View source for TIROS-1

{{Short description|1960 weather satellite}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name               = TIROS-1
| image              = Tiros satellite navitar.jpg
| image_caption      = The TIROS-1 prototype on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
| mission_type       = [[Weather satellite]]
| operator           = [[NASA]]<ref name="science1">{{cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tiros/|title=TIROS|publisher=NASA Science|accessdate=December 8, 2013}}</ref>
| Harvard_designation = 1960 β 2
| COSPAR_ID          = 1960-002B
| SATCAT             = 29
| mission_duration   = 75&nbsp;days (90 days planned)
| spacecraft_type    = [[TIROS]]
| manufacturer       = [[RCA|RCA Astro]]
| launch_mass        = {{convert|122.5|kg}}
| launch_date        = {{start date text|1 April 1960, 11:40:09|timezone=yes}}&nbsp;GMT
| launch_rocket      = [[Thor-Able|Thor DM 18-Able II]]
| launch_site        = [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station|Cape Canaveral]], [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17|LC-17A]]
| last_contact       = {{end date text|15 June 1960}}
| orbit_epoch        = 1 Apr 1960 11:45:00
| orbit_reference    = [[geocentric orbit|Geocentric]]
| orbit_regime       = [[Low Earth orbit|LEO]]
| orbit_periapsis    = {{convert|693|km|mi}}
| orbit_apoapsis     = {{convert|750|km|mi}}
| orbit_inclination  = 48.40°
| orbit_eccentricity = 0.00401
| orbit_period       = 99.16&nbsp;minutes<ref name = NSSDC>{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1960-002B|title=TIROS 1|publisher=NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref>
| apsis              = gee
| instruments        = Two slow-scan visible television cameras (wide and narrow-angle);  horizon and sun angle sensors
| programme          = [[TIROS]]
| next_mission       = [[TIROS-2]]
}}

'''TIROS-1''' (or '''TIROS-A''') was the first operational [[weather satellite]],{{efn|The [[Vanguard 2]] satellite was the first experimental/prototype weather satellite.}} the first of a series of ''[[Television Infrared Observation Satellite]]s'' (TIROS) placed in [[low Earth orbit]].

== Program ==
{{Main article|Television Infrared Observation Satellite}}
The TIROS Program was NASA's first experimental step to determine if satellites could be useful in the study of the Earth. At that time, the effectiveness of satellite observations was still unproven. Since satellites were a new technology, the TIROS Program also tested various design issues for spacecraft: instruments, data and operational parameters. The goal was to improve satellite applications for Earth-bound decisions, such as "should we evacuate the coast because of the [[hurricane]]?".<ref name="science1"/>

The TIROS-1 Program's first priority was the development of a [[Meteorology|meteorological]] satellite information system. [[Weather forecasting]] was deemed the most promising application of space-based observations.<ref name="science1"/>

== Spacecraft ==
[[File:TIROS-1 Magnetic Tape Data Recorder.jpg|thumb|left|The TIROS-1 [[magnetic tape]] data recorder.]]
TIROS 1 was an 18-sided right [[Prism (geometry)|prism]], {{convert|107|cm}} across opposite corners and {{convert|56|cm}} high.

Spacecraft power was supplied by approximately 9000 {{convert|1|cm}}- by {{convert|2|cm}} [[silicon solar cell]]s mounted on the cover assembly and by 21 [[Nickel–cadmium battery|nickel-cadmium batteries]].

A single [[monopole antenna]] for reception of ground commands extended out from the top of the cover assembly. A pair of [[Turnstile antenna|crossed-dipole antennas]] (235&nbsp;MHz) for transmission projected down and diagonally out from the baseplate. Mounted around the edge of the baseplate were five diametrically opposed pairs of small, [[Solid-propellant rocket|solid-fuel thrusters]] that maintained the satellite [[Revolutions per minute|spin rate]] between 8 and 12 rpm.

The satellite was equipped with two {{convert|1.27|cm}}-diameter [[Vidicon|vidicon TV cameras]], one wide angle and one narrow angle, for taking earth [[cloud cover]] pictures. The pictures were transmitted directly to a [[Ground station|ground receiving station]] or were stored in a [[magnetic tape]] recorder on board for later playback, depending on whether the satellite was within or beyond the communication range of the station. The satellite was [[Spin stabilization|spin-stabilized]].<ref name="NSSDC" />

== Mission ==
Launched into orbit from [[Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17|Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 17A]] on 1 Apr 1960 at 11:40:09 UTC by a [[Thor-Able|Thor Able II]] rocket.<ref name=log>{{Cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref>

Over its {{frac|2|1|2}}-month lifespan, TIROS 1 returned 23,000 photos of the Earth, 19,000 of them usable for weather analysis. For the first time, it was possible to view large scale cloud patterns in their totality, and from this, identify storm regions. The satellite provided the first long-term observations of a developing storm from orbit, tracking the disintegration of a large [[Cyclone|cyclonic]] mass off the coast of [[Bermuda]] over the course of four days. In addition, TIROS 1 returned data on smaller scale structures such as [[tornado]]es and [[jet stream]]s, and findings returned from the satellite complemented and enhanced ground-based findings.<ref name=sp96>{{cite book|url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=wS1DAAAAIAAJ&rdid=book-wS1DAAAAIAAJ&rdot=1|title=Significant Achievements in Satellite Meteorology 1958-1964|publisher=[[NASA]]|date=1966|location=Washington D.C.}}</ref>{{rp|35}}

TIROS 1 performed normally from launch until June 15, 1960, when an electrical power failure prevented further useful TV transmission.<ref name="NSSDC" />

{{As of|2024}}, TIROS 1 remains in orbit.<ref name=cat>{{Cite web|url=https://www.planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt|title=Satellite Catalog|last=McDowell|first=Jonathan|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|access-date=14 November 2020}}</ref><gallery>
File:TIROS 1 Launch1.jpg|Thor-Able launching TIROS 1 
File:TIROS-1-Earth.png|TIROS I wide-angle image taken on April 1, 1960 (one of the first [[television|TV]] images of [[Earth]] from space)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Anderson |first=George D. |date=April 1, 2010 |title=The first weather satellite picture |journal=Weather |language=en |volume=65 |issue=4 |pages=87 |bibcode=2010Wthr...65...87A |doi=10.1002/wea.550 |issn=1477-8696 |doi-access=}}</ref>
File:TIROS I image Spac0102-repair.jpg|TIROS I image showing a cyclone in South Atlantic, taken on April 28, 1960
File:A square cloud close to the Oklahoma-Texas border (2268-80).jpg|TIROS I image showing an apparently square cloud and a cloud system which enlarged bringing hailstones and tornadoes to central Oklahoma (May 2, 1960)
File:Surface weather map of Pacific frontal storm derived from TIROS I data (2268-84).jpg|Surface weather map of Pacific frontal storm derived from TIROS I data (May 19, 1960)
File:Experience with TIROS showed that bright clouds with relatively well-defined edges and isolated from a main cloud mass, could be indicators of severe weather (2282-47).jpg|TIROS I image showing bright clouds with relatively well-defined edges and isolated from a main cloud mass. Shortly after this photograph, the southernmost cloud spawned a tornado (May 27, 1960).
File:Archived tapes of telemetry data received from TIROS I (2268-132).jpg|Archived tapes of telemetry data received from TIROS I (June 1960)
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[First images of Earth from space]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=29 Track the current position of TIROS 1]
*[https://science.nasa.gov/missions/tiros TIROS &ndash; NASA Science]
*[https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19640007992.pdf Final Report on the TIROS I Meteorological Satellite System]
*[http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal110/#tiros The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Exhibition List] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100713233004/http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal110/#tiros |date=July 13, 2010 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120614035813/http://www.campevans.org/_CE/html/tiros1-2.html TIROS 1 & 2 Ground Control Canter at Camp Evans] - preserved by InfoAge Science History Center
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120426194739/http://www.campevans.org/_CE/html/mm-1960-04-07-p1-tiros-signal-pilots-fly-photos-to-NASA.html Published story of how the first TIROS photo was flown by helicopter, then a jet from the Camp Evans Ground Control Center to NASA]
*[http://noaasis.noaa.gov/NOAASIS/ml/40yearsa.html TIROS I is Launched - NOAASIS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142004/http://noaasis.noaa.gov/NOAASIS/ml/40yearsa.html |date=June 12, 2018 }}
*[https://www.lib.noaa.gov/collections/tiros.html TIROS-1 50th Anniversary & Resources on Satellite Meteorology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421091615/https://www.lib.noaa.gov/collections/tiros.html |date=April 21, 2017 }}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe4jGbbXnvw&feature=channel NASA's YouTube video of TIROS-1]

{{TIROS}}
{{Orbital launches in 1960}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiros-1}}
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1960]]
[[Category:Weather satellites of the United States]]
[[Category:Weather imaging satellites]]
[[Category:Satellites in low Earth orbit]]
[[Category:Television Infrared Observation Satellites]]