Professional Documents
Culture Documents
NEWS
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
LEASE
1520 H S T R E E T , N O R T H W E S T . W A S H I N G T O N 2 5 . D. C .
TELEPHONES: DUDLEY 2 - 6 3 2 5 . EXECUTIVE 3 - 3 2 6 0
TIROS SATELLITE
PAYLOAD
l o c a t e d on t h e t o p ,
O r b i t a l i n c l i n a t i o n w i l l be about 50 degrees t o t h e equator.
. . .. . _- . . -. . ..... . .. . . ..- .. .. . ._ - -
- 4 -
. . -. . . .. . . --
.
information i s t r a n s m i t t e d to t h e ground stations w i t h t h e TV
transmission where i t i s processed by a computer t o show which
d i r e c t i o n i s n o r t h i n each p i c t u r e ,
Two beacon t r a n s m i t t e r s , o p e r a t i n g on 108.00 mc and 108.03 mc,
both w i t h a power output of 30 mw, wilY be used for t s a e k i n g
purposeso They can be mo~l:~latedt o provide i n f o r n a t i o n on
s a t e l l i t e a t t i t u d e , environmental eondftfsns, and s a t e l l i t e
equipment o p e r a t i o n . F o r back-up purposes, both frequencies c a r r y
t h e same data, Each o f t h e p h o t o data a c q u i s i t i o n s t a t i o n s arc
equipped w i t h t r a c k i n g antennas,
When t h e payload i s separated from t h e t h i r d s t a g e of t h e
Thor-Able r o c k e t , it w i l l be spinning a t about 136 rpm. Pictures
taken from a v e h i c l e w i t h t h i s ~ a % oef s p i n would be b l u r r e d ,
About PO minutes a f t e r payload s e p a r a t i o n a de-spin mechanism will
slow t h e revolut%ons to w%thian emera operating l i m i t s -- 12 rpm.
The de-spin mechanism eonsists o f two weights a t t a c h e d to c a b l e s
wound around t h e s a t e l l i t e , A s t h e weights unwind t h e y slow
TIROS
LAUNCETIHG VEHICLE
A s o l i d - p r o p e l l a n t r o c k e t , t h e t h i r d s t a g e was adapted f r o m
t h e Vanguard and Able I rocket v e h i c l e s . It propels t h e payload
t o o r b i t a l v e l o c i t y , about 18,000 mph.
Weight -- Over 500 lbs,
Thrust -- Approximately 3,000 l b s .
The t h i r d stage c o a s t s f o r about L!OO seconds before
ignition. It goes i n t o o r b i t still a t t a c h e d t o t h e pay1oa.d.
Separation occurs about 25 minutes a f t e r t h i r d - s t a g e burnout
when a s e t of s p r i n g s f o r c e s t h e t h i r d stage and payload apart.
Burned o u t , t h e empty t h i r d - s t a g e casing weighs about 50 pounds.
. .
- 3 -
For the first time in any NASA satellite launch, the third
stage carries a tracking beacon. It was designed by M,I.T.rs
Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Mass., and built by Texas
Instruments, Inc., Houston, Texas. Designed to be used with
ground equipment at Lincoln Laboratory's Millstone Hill tracking
facility in Westford, Mass,, the beacon will assist in providing
accurate trajectory information during launch. When the beacon
receives a pulse from ground radar, it transmits a pulse back
showing the location of' the third stage. This system provides
greater tracking range than "skin" tracking where radar signals
are "echoed" back from the object in space.
TIROS
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
To prepare t h e TIROS v e h i c l e , p l a c e i t i n o r b i t , t r a c k it, and
a c q u i r e , p r o c e s s and analyze data r e q u i r e s t h e cooperation and
a s s i s t a n c e o f many Government agencies and i n d u s t r i a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s .
The o v e r a l l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for t h e p r o j e c t rests w i t h t h e
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The o p e r a t i o n a l
phase of t h e p r o j e c t i s under t h e d i r e c t i o n of N A S A s s Goddard Space
Flight Center. Goddasrd w i l l prepare the command programming which
. . . . . . . . . . _.__I....._.._...I . ... . . . . . . . . . . -. - . . . . . .