Weather Satellites: TIROS IV

TIROS IV - Television Infrared Observation Satellite IV

Launch date: February 8, 1962

Launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida

Launch vehicle: Three-stage Delta

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:

Continued research and development of the meteorological satellite information system. To obtain data for operational use in weather forecasting.

SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTION:

The spacecraft was 42 inches in diameter, 19 inches high and weighed 285 pounds. The craft was made of aluminum alloy and stainless steel then covered by 9260 solar cells. The solar cells served to charge the 63 nickel-cadmium batteries.

A new lens system was implemented for this launch. The lens was designed to reduce distortion and improve resolution. This craft also contained an electronic clock to control the operations of the infrared horizon sensor as well as the magnetic orientation control system. A magnetic tape recorder was still provided for each camera to store photographs while the satellite was out of range of the ground station network. One scanning and two non-scanning radiometers were also on board. The transmitting and receiving antennas were of the same configuration as the previous TIROS models.

TIROS IV pictures were the best to date, allowing the US Weather Bureau to initiate an international facsimile transmission network in order to share the cloud pictures with weather services around the world. TIROS IV was operational for 161 days.

PARTICIPANTS:

NASA, RCA, US Weather Bureau, Barnes Engineering