TIROS-N satellite is the first of the TIROS-N series. It is a weather satellite launched on 13 October 1978.
It was designed to become operational during 2 years. Its mass is 734 kilograms.
Its
perigee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any ellip ...
to
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
is 829 kilometers. Its
apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any ellip ...
is 845 kilometers away from Earth. Its
inclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a Plane of reference, reference plane and the orbital plane or Axis of rotation, axis of direction of the orbiting object ...
is 98.70°. It was managed by the U.S.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
(NOAA); designed and launched by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
. The spacecraft was
3-axis stabilized.
TIROS-N was operated for 868 days until deactivated by NOAA on 27 February 1981.
[ ]
Gallery of cyclones captured by this satellite
Image:Tip 14 oct 1979 0553Z TN.jpg, Typhoon Tip (14 October 1979) 2 days after reaching peak intensity.
Image:Bob 10 jul 1979 2128Z TN.jpg, Hurricane Bob (10 July 1979)
Image:Claudette 24 jul 1979 2040Z TN.jpg, Tropical Storm Claudette (24 July 1979)
Image:Frederic 12 sep 1979 2009Z TN.jpg, Hurricane Frederic (12 September 1979)
Image:Henri 17 sep 1979 2059Z TN.jpg, Hurricane Henri (17 September 1979)
Image:Gloria 08 sep 1979 1730Z TN.jpg, Hurricane Gloria (8 September 1979)
References
External links
ITOS/TIROS-N/ATN (NOAA) series
Weather satellites of the United States
Spacecraft launched in 1978
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