SATELLITES-------
ESSA-ESSA VI--------
ESSA-ESSA VI--------
The two cameras were mounted 180
degrees opposite each other along the side of the cylindrical
craft. The "cartwheel" configuration of the TIROS IX was selected
as the orbital configuration of the operational series of ESSA
satellites. Therefore, a camera could be pointed at some point on
Earth every time the satellite rotated along its axis. The
spacecraft operating system was the same as on the TIROS IX. The
craft was placed in its planned sun-synchronous 101 degree
inclination retrograde orbit. The satellite spin axis was rotated
using the magnetic attitude control system into an alignment
perpendicular to the orbital plane and tangent to the Earth's
surface. The APT system was designed to transmit an image every 352
seconds, each photo covering a 2000 mile square area with 2 mile
resolution. ESSA VI was able to transmit up to eight images daily
to individual ground stations around the world. A total of 305
receiving stations were now operational around the world, including
26 US universities, 25 US television stations, and the weather
services of 45 foreign countries. ESSA VI remained operational for
465 days until deactivated by NASA on December 3, 1969.
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