On April 1, 1960, the United States launched its first weather satellite into Earth orbit. This satellite Tyros-1 had a name
About the satellite
The Tyros-1 program was initially part of the United States Department of Defense program in 1958, which was transferred to the newly established NASA organization the following year. This satellite had a mission to use its camera to obtain information for forecasting and checking the weather from the movement pattern of clouds and the infrared radiation of the earth.
The satellite was equipped with a television camera and video recorders that transmitted images of the Earth’s cloud cover directly to ground stations.
Although before the Tyros satellites, the series satellites Explorer They were launched into space, but their main purpose was not meteorology. Thus Tyros made it possible for the first time to predict the weather through images and showed scientists that satellites are a useful tool for studying the Earth.
Tyros-1 mission
Tyros-1 by rocket Net It was launched from Cape Carnival and entered polar orbit, which allowed it to see the entire globe. This satellite observed the earth from space for 78 days before a problem occurred.
After the launch of the first Tyros satellite, nine more satellites with the same name were launched until 1965. All those satellites were experimental-research and did not provide continuous meteorological services.
Tyros-1 was equipped with two cylindrical cameras, one of which had a low resolution and the other was equipped with a lens. The cameras took an image every 30-10 seconds and ultimately 22,952 images were transmitted to Earth by Tyros-1 alone.
More advanced and new equipment was installed and tested in each of the Tyros satellites.
The lifespan of these satellites was three or five years, but Tyros-1 was disabled after 78 days due to a malfunction in its electronic system.
