First Geosynchronous Meteorological Satellite
| Diameter | 1.46 m (4 ft 9 in) |
|---|---|
| Panel height | 1.34 m (4 ft 5 in) |
| Weight in orbit | 304 kg (670 lb) |
The Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) program was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to flight test experimental payloads and investigate the space environment with the aim of developing technology of practical future benefit.
Five flight spacecraft of three configurations were built by Hughes from 1966 to 1969. In October 2000, Hughes became Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc. The satellites were designed as basic buses capable of carrying a variety of scientific payloads. A score of experiments were flown to conduct investigations in the fields of space and communications, satellite stabilization, meteorology, and the orbital environment.
ATS-1
The first satellite in the series, ATS-1, was a spin-stabilized synchronous altitude spacecraft with an electronically despun antenna that continuously directed a cone-shaped beam at the earth. It was launched December 6, 1966, and stationed in orbit above the Pacific Ocean near Christmas Island at 150.2 degrees West longitude.
Experiments successfully conducted with the ATS-1 included photographs of earth with a spin scan cloud camera, color television transmission, and a demonstration of multiple access capability with several ground stations at the same time.
During the recovery operations for the flight of Apollo 11 in 1969, the spacecraft served as the primary communications link between the White House and President Nixon in the Pacific as the President witnessed the return of the moon-landing astronauts from the deck of the U.S. Navy carrier USS Hornet.
ATS-2
ATS-2, a gravity gradient stabilized spacecraft, was launched into a medium altitude orbit April 5, 1967. The Agena launch vehicle, however, failed to produce the desired thrust and the satellite remained in an elliptical rather than the planned circular orbit. The satellite reentered the earth's atmosphere at 2220 GMT on September 2, 1969, after 880 days in orbit.
ATS-3
The ATS-3 spacecraft was launched into a synchronous orbit November 5, 1967. It was equipped with a mechanically despun antenna and an improved spin scan camera that could take pictures in color. On November 10, the satellite transmitted the first color pictures of earth taken from synchronous altitude. Of particular interest are the ATS-3 still photos taken over the midwestern United States during the 1968 tornado watch. Movies of these pictures were made as an aid to meteorological research. In 1969 the satellite was employed in the Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment (BOMEX) in the West Indies, one of the largest meteorological experiments ever conducted, to supply daily pictures of cloud cover over the 90,000 square mile test area. A subsequent accomplishment of the satellite was photographing the shadow of the total eclipse of the sun as it moved across the eastern United States on March 7, 1970.
ATS-4
ATS-4 launched from Cape Canaveral, August 10, 1968, to test gravity gradient stabilization at synchronous altitude, failed to reach the desired altitude, and though partially operational, could not fulfill mission objectives. The spacecraft reentered the earth's atmosphere over the Caribbean October 17, 1968.
ATS-5
ATS-5, the last spacecraft in the Hughes/NASA ATS program, was launched August 12, 1969, in a near-perfect trajectory for insertion into synchronous orbit. Although injected successfully into orbit, the spacecraft's reverse spin (counterclockwise) prevented successful deployment of the 124 foot gravity gradient booms for the stabilization experiment. However nine of the other 13 experiments aboard the spacecraft returned useful data. ATS-5 was retired in March 1984.