TIROS 3

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TIROS 3 is classified as:

Weather

NORAD ID: 162

Int'l Code: 1961-017A

Perigee: 718.8 km

Apogee: 781.7 km

Inclination: 47.9 °

Period: 99.7 minutes

Semi major axis: 7121 km

RCS: 0.8364 m² (medium)

Launch date: July 12, 1961
Source: United States (US)
Launch site: AIR FORCE EASTERN TEST RANGE (AFETR)

TIROS 3 (Television and InfraRed Observation Satellite) was a spin-stabilized meteorological spacecraft designed to test experimental television techniques and infrared equipment. The satellite was in the form of an 18-sided right prism, 107 cm in diameter and 56 cm high. The top and sides of the spacecraft were covered with approximately 9000 1- by 2-cm silicon solar cells. TIROS 3 was equipped with two independent television camera subsystems for taking cloudcover pictures, plus a two-channel low-resolution radiometer, an omnidirectional radiometer, and a five-channel infrared scanning radiometer. All three radiometers were used for measuring radiation from the earth and its atmosphere.

1 00162U 61017A   24139.92162369  .00000496  00000-0  18663-3 0  9997
2 00162  47.8986 220.9516 0044176   5.9290 354.2117 14.44673800281961

Source of the keplerian elements: AFSPC