SATELLITES-------
TIROS-TIROS VII-------
SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTION:

The spacecraft was an 18-sided polygon, 42 inches in diameter, 19 inches high and weighed 270 pounds. The craft was made of aluminum alloy and stainless steel then covered by 9000 solar cells. The solar cells served to charge the 63 nickel-cadmium batteries.

This craft contained two wide angle camera systems, a magnetic tape recorder, infrared experiments including a five-channel medium resolution scanning radiometer and low resolution metallic resistance thermometers. The electron temperature and density probes were the same as the ones placed on Explorer XVII. The spacecraft operating system still included the infrared horizon scanner, the north direction indicator, despin weights and spinup rockets, and the magnetic attitude control system. TIROS VII furnished over 30,000 cloud photographs and lasted the longest of the TIROS series thus far, remaining operational for 1809 days before being deactivated by NASA on June 3, 1968.
  • This page takes a look at Tiros 7.
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