Published on Department of Commerce (http://www.commerce.gov)

50th Anniversary of the Satellite that "Forever Changed Weather Forecasting"

Submitted on April 1, 2010 - 7:00am
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One of the first satellite images. Click for a full version. [8]

Fifty years ago today, the world’s first weather satellite lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and opened a new and exciting dimension in weather forecasting. Top leaders from Commerce’s NOAA [9] and NASA [10] hailed the milestone as an example of their agencies’ strong partnership and commitment to flying the best satellites today and beyond. The first image from the satellite, known as TIROS-1, was a fuzzy picture of thick bands and clusters of clouds over the United States. An image captured a few days later revealed a typhoon about 1,000 miles east of Australia. TIROS-1, a polar-orbiting satellite, weighed 270 pounds and carried two cameras and two video recorders. (More [11])

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Source URL (retrieved on 06/18/2013 - 2:45am): http://www.commerce.gov/blog/2010/04/01/50th-anniversary-satellite-forever-changed-weather-forecasting

Page Links:
[1] http://www.commerce.gov/category/tags/australia
[2] http://www.commerce.gov/category/tags/satellite
[3] http://www.commerce.gov/category/tags/satellites
[4] http://www.commerce.gov/category/tags/united-states
[5] http://www.commerce.gov/category/tags/video
[6] http://www.commerce.gov/category/tags/weather
[7] http://www.commerce.gov/category/bureaus-and-offices/national-oceanic-atmospheric-administration
[8] http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/images/tiros1_firstimage.png
[9] http://www.noaa.gov/
[10] http://www.nasa.gov/
[11] http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2010/20100401_tiros.html
[12] mailto:webmaster@doc.gov