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Nimbus 7
Status:
Completed
Mission Category:
Historical Missions
Launch Date: October 24, 1978
Launch Location: Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
The Nimbus 7 research-and-development satellite served as a stabilized, earth-oriented platform for the testing of advanced systems used to sense and collect data in the pollution, oceanographic, and meteorological disciplines. The polar-orbiting spacecraft consisted of three major structures: (1) a hollow torus-shaped sensor mount, (2) solar paddles, and (3) a control housing unit that was connected to the sensor mount by a tripod truss structure. These structures gave the spacecraft a configuration somewhat like that of an ocean buoy.
Key Nimbus 7 Facts
| Mission/Portal Page: | http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/masterCatalog.do?sc=1978-098A |
|---|---|
| Launch Vehicle: | Delta |
| Instruments: |
CZCS (Coastal-Zone Color Scanner) ERBS (Earth Radiation Budget Sensor) LIMS (Limb Infrared Monitoring of the Stratosphere) SAM II (Stratospheric Aerosol Measurement II) SAMS (Stratospheric and Mesopheric Sounder) SBUV (Solar Backscatter UV) SMMR (Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer) THIR (Temperature-Humidity Infrared Radiometer) TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) |
| Project Scientist(s): |
Albert J. Fleig, Jr. |
Related Publications:
- ICESat-2 Mission Brochure (iBooks - 8.82 MB)
Relevant Science Focus Areas:
- Weather
Relevant Science Questions:
- How is the global Earth system changing?
Science Goals:
- The project objectives were to provide improved photographs of local cloud conditions by an automatic picture transmission (APT) system, and to evaluate an advanced vidicon camera system (AVCS) for daylight coverage and a high-resolution infrared radiometer system (HRIR) for night-time cloud-cover observation.
Related Applications:
- Weather Prediction