SATELLITES-------
GOES-GOES 4--------
GOES-GOES 4--------
SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTION:
The spacecraft was a cylinder 85 inches in diameter, 138 inches high and weighed 874 pounds. The sides of the cylinder were covered by 15,000 solar cells which, along with nicad batteries, provided the power for the craft. Contained within, but protruding from the base was the primary instrument - the VAS (Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) Atmospheric Sounder) and its sunshade. This instrument provided both day and night imagery of cloud conditions as well as temperature and moisture profiles over the full-disk. Unfortunately, the dwell times of sounder versus imager do not permit these two operations to occur simultaneously; however, soundings are still available on an hourly basis.
The spacecraft was a cylinder 85 inches in diameter, 138 inches high and weighed 874 pounds. The sides of the cylinder were covered by 15,000 solar cells which, along with nicad batteries, provided the power for the craft. Contained within, but protruding from the base was the primary instrument - the VAS (Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) Atmospheric Sounder) and its sunshade. This instrument provided both day and night imagery of cloud conditions as well as temperature and moisture profiles over the full-disk. Unfortunately, the dwell times of sounder versus imager do not permit these two operations to occur simultaneously; however, soundings are still available on an hourly basis.
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