TIROS Experimental Weather Satellite (1960)

[Music] for centuries man has tried with his inadequate tools to peer into the future and predict the weather such predictions are often sketchy and inconclusive as it has been impossible to gather information from many vast areas of the Earth the meteorologist has long dreamed deed of looking from the outside in rather than from the inside out so he can see the clouds and weather covering the globe if he could know the paths of the Winds the distribution of temperature from the equator to the poles could literally see the clouds as they form the increased accuracy of his analysis his forecasts could take on extremely significant meaning for all mankind everybody talks about the weather but nobody is doing anything about it now somebody is doing something a start was made on the meteorological satellite program in September of 1958 when RCA showed that a satellite they had been developing for a different use could easily be modified to serve this function in April of 1959 the tyros project came under the overall direction of NASA as one of the first civilian satellite projects tyros meaning television and infrared observation satellite is more than just a dream this experimental weather satellite means that man's vision is no longer limited to looking up at the clouds gathering above him once the configuration of the electronic equipment was determined five tyros payloads were built two for test purposes and three for actual flight AS develop and progressed extensive tests were performed on the components as well as the entire satellite system tyros is one of the largest scientific satellite payloads launched to date in the Free World it weighs about 270 lb the Tyro satellite is stabilized in Space by a spinning motion similar to a gyroscope it is known that certain materials in a spinning satellite will cause drag due to the effect of the Earth's magnetic field as the satellite has to maintain a certain spin rate a test to determine the effect of magnetic drag was made so proper measures could be taken to restore the spin rate of the satellite energy from the Sun is converted to electricity by 9200 solar cells on the Satellite by using rechargeable storage batteries power is supplied to the satellite even when it is in the earth's Shadow a high performance test facility was designed to simulate a vacuum and temperature environment similar to that in which the satellite would operate a mechanical Shaker system subjected component parts as well as the entire satellite assembly to Mechanical vibrations two to three times more severe than it experienced during actual launch the shot tester is a device capable of imparting severe but controlled mechanical shocks to the equipment a test to balance the payload was performed on this machine so that the satellite would spin true the Rockets which will be used to restore the spin rate of the satellite were tested the pression damper test was utilized to prove out the ability of movable weights on curved tracks to dissipate any satellite wobble energy the eyes of the satellite are two television cameras one with a wide angle angle and one with a narrow angle lens a series of individual pictures can be transmitted directly to tyros ground stations or the pictures can be stored on two videotape recorders in the satellite the TV transmitter command receivers and other control devices are other major units in the satellite which allow two-way communication between the satellite and the ground stations the radio be provide signals to the satellite tracking stations and double as Telemetry transmitters to report on conditions in the satellite now just what is tyros what is it expected to do the satellites Mission did not begin until it was put into orbit this was the job of the Air Force Thor aable rocket at the Cape Canaveral launching complex the tyos payload was mounted on top of the able third stage rocket few seconds in Man's agong Search for knowledge can compare in sheer drama with the electrifying moments between countdown and successful [Music] orbit the third stage of the Thor AEL rocket carried tyros into its first orbital path on separation it was then spinning at about 120 revolutions per minute but the rapid spinning of the satellite had to be reduced before the cameras could successfully take Stop Motion Pictures to do this two cables were wrapped around the outside of the satellite shell each ran all the way around with weights attached to the ends automatically these weights were released this action caused the satellite to dpin to 12 Revolution per minute within 1/2 second the pression damper device will correct any wobble that may occur in the satellite's rotation the Earth's magnetic field exerts a drag on the satellite gradually reducing the spin rate in about 30 days the spin rate slows down to around 9 revolutions per minute upon command from the ground stations pairs of diametrically opposite thumb siiz solid propellant Rocket motors are fired the Rockets spin the satellite back up to 12 revolutions per minute during the 100 minutes that the satellite completes one orbit the Earth rotates about 23° the orbit path is from about 50° north latitude to about 50° South this means that the satellite travels as far north as the great lakes and as far south as Australia but the cameras are programmed to turn on only by when they are pointed toward a sun illuminated area of the northern hemisphere at 400 m out the wide angle lens will photograph an area of about 700 M square with pictures taken every 2 seconds an overlapping Panorama of all the cloud formations for a stretch of about 3500 Mi is received each time the cameras are turned on by recording the position of the sun as each picture is taken the satellite also returns information that permits the north Direction on the picture to be determined one of the two cameras takes more detailed cloud pictures that assist the meteorologist in his analysis as both TV cameras are taking many pictures every 24 hours a great Avalanche of information sent to the ground stations presents complex processing and interpretation problems a primary ground station at Fort Monmouth New Jersey is backed up by stations at Princeton New Jersey and Cape canaval another primary ground station is at Cena Point Hawaii on the island of aahu the national aeronautic and space administration's minra system which runs like a fence through North and South America provides tracking information that traces the satellite's orbit around the Earth the information is continually relayed to the National Aeronautics and Space admin Administration computation Center at Washington DC the computation Center can plot the exact path of tyros and quickly relay the programming information to the ground stations the programming equipment at the primary ground station sets up the time schedules for picture taking picture recording and transmission of the pictures to the ground at the Fort Monmouth and Hawaii receiving stations a record on both film and T is made of all the data that tyos gathers during its sweeps around the earth the pictorial and telemeter information can also be picked up and recorded at the backup ground station at RCA Princeton New Jersey each primary ground station is capable of tracking programming and then receiving pictures and other data from the satellite they then send all this information to the NASA Computing Center and the US weather bureau where in interpretation of all material takes place an ingenious device which will utilize enhancement techniques has been developed still pictures of cloud formations viewed on a television screen can be subjected to various changes by electronic techniques to enhance and highlight essential information which is normally obscured light or dark areas in the picture can be examined by increasing the contrast in any portion of the picture grac scale outlining is another technique by which areas exceeding a selected light level can be outlined to facilitate study of the cloud density background in the cloud pictures can be removed leaving only the outlines of selected light levels differentiation gives a feeling of depth the edges stand out and the overall configuration can be studied and now what comes next in space meteor ology the tyros 2 satellite program includes subsystems to measure Earth and atmosphere radiation the measurements indicate where excesses and deficits of energy are being accumulated on Earth energy available to sustain the Motions of our atmosphere comes from the Sun by measuring accurately the distribution of the energy going into and radiating from the Earth's atmosphere the meteorologists understanding of the mechanism of the general circulation of the atmosphere will be appreciably improved the advanced meteorological satellites could give daily Global coverage even cloud pictures at night these satellites will have their cameras constantly focused on the globe a complete pictorial record of our changing weather will be revealed by polar orbiting satellites as their paths pass over the Earth and the Earth rotates within the orbit meteorologic iCal data presently is hand plotted on Maps prior to analysis A tedious and time consuming process in addition only limited information is available from remote ocean areas certainly a deeper understanding of the forces of nature will produce tremendous benefits for mankind yes someone is doing something about the weather this knowledge we hope will enable man to prepare for catastrophic storms blizzards droughts and floods and possibly to achieve some measure of control over the weather with an outside in look at our whole Earth's cloud cover we may be able to take a gigantic step forward in meteorology the economic benefits could possibly exceed the tragic losses of warfare since the beginning of time [Music] the door to space is open the mind of man can expand in areas of knowledge as vast as space itself with meteorological satellites the realization is near the rewards unlimited tyros is in orbit all