Sensor, Prototype, SIRS A Sounder, Nimbus
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Object Details
- Manufacturer
- Santa Barbara Research Center
- Summary
- Nimbus was a research program conducted by NASA in the 1960s and 1970s to study the Earth's atmosphere and weather via satellites in polar orbit. This artifact, an engineering protype of SIRS-A (Satellite Infrared Spectrometer), is representative of a key research instrument, called a sounder, used to measure temperature and water vapor at different levels in the atmosphere.
- A SIRS-A sounder flew on Nimbus 3, launched in 1969, and was the first space-based instrument to acquire a temperature profile of the atmosphere. Its first reading occured over Kingston, Jamaica, which, as a test of the sounder's performance, was compared with readings acquired by a balloon radiosonde.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration transferred this artifact to the Museum in 1987.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from NOAA
- Inventory Number
- A19870194000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Instruments & Payloads
- Materials
- Mylar (Polyester), Nylon, Plastic, Stainless fabric, Magnesium, Cadmium Plating, Adhesive, Gold Plating
- Dimensions
- Overall: 88.9 x 40.64cm (2ft 11in. x 1ft 4in.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19870194000
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv9257c9113-fd71-42ee-ab9e-7c8e923fb1b8
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