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TIROS-6
	TIROS-6.
Mission type	Weather satellite
Operator	NASA
Harvard designation	1962 αψ1
COSPAR ID	1962-047A
SATCAT no.	397
Mission duration	1 year and 1 month
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	TIROS
Manufacturer	RCA Astro / GSFC
Launch mass	127.5 kilograms (281 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date	September 18, 1962, 08:52 UTC
Rocket	Thor-Delta
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-17A
End of mission
Last contact	October 21, 1963
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Low Earth
Eccentricity	0.00191
Perigee altitude	686 kilometers (426 mi)
Apogee altitude	712 kilometers (442 mi)
Inclination	58.32°
Period	98.70 minutes
Epoch	September 18, 1962
Instruments
	Television Camera System
	TIROS ← TIROS-5 TIROS-7 →

TIROS 6 (also called TIROS-F) was a spin-stabilized meteorological satellite. It was the sixth in a series of Television Infrared Observation Satellites.

Launch

TIROS 6 was launched on September 18, 1962, by a Thor-Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, United States. The spacecraft functioned nominally until October 21, 1962. The satellite orbited the Earth once every 1 hour and 38 minutes, at an inclination of 58.3°. Its perigee was 686 kilometers (426 mi) and apogee was 712 kilometers (442 mi).^[1]

Mission

TIROS 6 was designed to further demonstrate the capability of a spacecraft to observe, record, and transmit TV cloud cover pictures for use in operational weather analysis and forecasting. The spin-stabilized satellite was in the form of an 18-sided right prism, 107 cm across opposite corners and 56 cm high, with a reinforced baseplate carrying most of the subsystems and a cover assembly. Electric energy was supplied to the spacecraft by approximately 9000 1-by 2-cm silicon solar cells mounted on the cover assembly and by 21 nickel-cadmium batteries.

A single monopole antenna for reception of ground commands extended from the top of the cover assembly. A pair of crossed-dipole telemetry antennas (235 MHz) projected down and diagonally out from the baseplate. The satellite spin rate was maintained between 8 and 12 rpm by the use of five diametrically opposed pairs of small solid-fuel thrusters mounted around the edge of the baseplate. Proper attitude was maintained to within a 1° to 2° accuracy by use of a magnetic control device consisting of 250 cores of wire wound around the outer surface of the spacecraft.

The interaction between the induced magnetic field in the spacecraft and the Earth's magnetic field provided the necessary torque for attitude control. TIROS-6 was equipped with two 1.27-cm vidicon TV cameras, one medium angle and one wide angle, for taking Earth cloudcover pictures. The pictures were transmitted directly to either of two ground receiving stations or were stored in a tape recorder on board for subsequent playback, depending on whether the satellite was within or beyond the communication range of the station.

TIROS-6 performed normally from launch until November 29, 1962, when the medium-angle camera vidicon failed. The wide-angle camera vidicon system failed on October 21, 1963, and the spacecraft was deactivated shortly thereafter.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h "TIROS 6". National Space Science Data Center Master Catalog. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved June 4, 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
^ "TIROS 6 (1962-047A)". NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Retrieved June 4, 2018.