The ITOS-H spacecraft will be launched no earlier than 29 July 1976 from the Western Test Range (WTR) by a two-stage Delta 2310 vehicle. ITOS-H is the fifth operational spacecraft in a series of second-generation operational meteorological satellites based on the TIROS-M design. The attached Mission Operation Report contains specific details pertinent to this mission. Of particular significance are the improved atmospheric sounder and the very high resolution radiometer which are carried in the primary payload of ITOS-H. This will be the fifth NOAA-funded spacecraft of this series to implement operational atmospheric sounding and very-high-resolution, day-and-night cloud-cover imaging. ITOS-H will serve to fulfill not only the first objective of the National Operational Meteorological Satellite System (NOMSS), which is to obtain global cloud-cover data both day and night, but also the third objective which is to obtain global-scale quantitative measurements of the Earth s atmospheric structure which will be applied to numerical weather prediction. The second objective of NOMSS, continuous viewing of weather features from synchronous altitude, is being fulfilled by satellites of the SMS/GOES series. A two-stage, inertially-guided Delta launch vehicle, utilizing a Thor booster with three solid motors for thrust augmentation and a Delta second stage will be used to place the ITOS-H spacecraft into orbit. Upon successful injection into orbit, the spacecraft will be designated NOAA-5
Improved TIROS Operational Satellite (ITOS-H) Mission Operation Report
1976
22 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch