ATS-3

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ATS-3
File:Applications Technology Satellite 3 (ATS 3).png
ATS-3 prelaunch
Mission type Weather
Communications
Technology
Operator NASA
COSPAR ID 1967-111A
SATCAT № 3029
Mission duration 3 years planned
Spacecraft properties
Bus HS-306
Manufacturer Hughes
Launch mass 365.0 kilograms (804.7 lb)
Start of mission
Launch date November 5, 1967, 23:37:00 (1967-11-05UTC23:37Z) UTC[1]
Rocket Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-12
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Geosynchronous
Perigee 35,723 kilometers (22,197 mi)
Apogee 35,862 kilometers (22,284 mi)
Inclination 6.92 degrees
Period 23.93 hours
Epoch January 21, 2014, 11:54:19 UTC[2]

Applications Technology Satellite 3, or ATS-3, was a long-lived American experimental geostationary weather and communications satellite, operated by NASA from 1967 to 2001.[citation needed] It was at one time reputed to be the oldest satellite still in operation;[3] As of 1995, NASA referred to the ATS-3 as "The oldest active communications satellite by a wide margin."[4]

History

Launched in November 1967, the ATS-3 was in service for 11 years before finally being decommissioned in 1978 along with ATS-1.[citation needed] Among its widest-known achievements are the first full-disk, color Earth images transmitted from a satellite. Its imaging capability has served during disaster situations, from the Mexico earthquake to the Mount St. Helens eruption.[4]

ATS-3 experiments included VHF and C-band communications, a color spin-scan camera[5] (principally developed by Verner E. Suomi), an image dissector camera, a mechanically despun antenna, resistojet thrusters, hydrazine propulsion, optical surface experiments, and the measurement of the electron content of the ionosphere and magnetosphere.

Because of failures in the hydrogen peroxide systems on ATS-1, ATS-3 was equipped with a hydrazine propulsion system. Its success led to its incorporation on ATS-4 and ATS-5 as the sole propulsion system.[4]

Operational details

The satellite is in geo-synchronous orbit 34,047 kilometers (21,156 mi) above the Earth's surface. The satellite has served as a communications link for rescue operations, including the 1985 Mexico City earthquake and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.[6]

Circa 1970, ATS-3 was used to collect images of weather patterns, especially developing hurricanes in the Western Hemisphere. 1,200 line photos were downlinked, approximately every 25 minutes, during daylight hours to NOAA's Command and Data Acquisition Station at Wallops Station, Virginia and transferred to various users. The satellite was known for its spinning beam antennas locking up and rotating with the satellite. When that happened, it took a powerful ground-based transmitter, like the one at Mojave, to blast through digital instructions to get the antenna aimed back at earth again.[citation needed]

File:ATS-3 Satellite VHF Ground Station Antenna.jpg
ATS-3 Ground Station Antenna

See also

References

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External links

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  6. ↑ Pae, Peter, "Satellites' Longevity Limits Sales", Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2008, p. C1.
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