ATS-3
{{Short description|American experimental satellite}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = ATS-3, Advanced Tech. Sat. 3, ATS-C, 03029
| image = Applications Technology Satellite 3 (ATS 3).png
| image_caption = ATS-3 prelaunch
| mission_type = Weather
Communications
Technology
| operator = NASA
| website =
| COSPAR_ID = 1967-111A
| SATCAT = 3029
| mission_duration = {{time interval|November 5, 1967, 23:37:00|2001}} (final)
{{time interval|November 5, 1967, 23:37:00|show=ymd|sep=,}}
(in orbit)
| spacecraft_bus = HS-306
| manufacturer = Hughes
| dry_mass =
| launch_mass = {{convert|365.0|kg|lb}}
| dimensions =
| power =
| launch_date = {{start date text|November 5, 1967, 23:37:00|timezone=yes}} UTC{{cite web|url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launch Log|first=Jonathan|last=McDowell|work=Jonathan's Space Page|access-date=January 24, 2014}}
| launch_rocket = Atlas SLV-3 Agena-D
| launch_site = Cape Canaveral LC-12
| launch_contractor =
| disposal_type =
| deactivated = {{end date text|2001}}
| orbit_epoch = January 21, 2014, 11:54:19 UTC{{cite web|url=http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=3029|title=ATS 3 Satellite details 1967-111A NORAD 3029|work=N2YO|date=January 21, 2014|access-date=January 24, 2014}}
| orbit_reference = Geocentric
| orbit_regime = GSO
| orbit_eccentricity = 0.00043
| orbit_semimajor = {{convert|42241.0|km|mi}}
| orbit_periapsis = {{convert|35723|km|mi|sp=us}}
| orbit_apoapsis = {{convert|35862|km|mi|sp=us}}
| orbit_inclination = 6.92 degrees
| orbit_period = 23.93 hours
| apsis = gee
| programme = Applications Technology Satellites
| previous_mission = ATS-2
| next_mission = ATS-4
}}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/missions/ats|title=ATS {{!}} Science Mission Directorate|website=science.nasa.gov|access-date=2016-10-27}} It was at one time reputed to be the oldest satellite still in operation.{{cite web|url=http://www.solarstorms.org/Quote4.html|title=Technology|publisher=solarstorms.org|access-date=17 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928092501/http://www.solarstorms.org/Quote4.html|archive-date=September 28, 2006|df=mdy-all}} {{as of|1995}}, NASA referred to the ATS-3 as "The oldest active communications satellite by a wide margin."{{cite book|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4217/ch6.htm|title=Beyond The Ionosphere: The Development of Satellite Communications|editor-last=Butrica|editor-first=Andrew J.|last=Glover|first=Daniel R.|chapter=Chapter 6: NASA Experimental Communications Satellites, 1958–1995, SP-4217 Beyond the Ionosphere|publisher=NASA|year=1997}}
On November 10, 1967, ATS-3 took NASA's first color photo (digital image mosaic) of the full-disk Earth, which was subsequently used on the cover of the first Whole Earth Catalog.
History
Launched in November 1967, the ATS-3 was in service for 11 years before finally being decommissioned in 1978 along with ATS-1.{{cite web|url=https://science.nasa.gov/missions/ats|title=Applications Technology Satellite Program}} Among its widest-known achievements are the first full-disk, "true color"{{cite journal | last1=Miller | first1=Steven D. | last2=Schmit | first2=Timothy L. | last3=Seaman | first3=Curtis J. | last4=Lindsey | first4=Daniel T. | last5=Gunshor | first5=Mathew M. | last6=Kohrs | first6=Richard A. | last7=Sumida | first7=Yasuhiko | last8=Hillger | first8=Donald | title=A Sight for Sore Eyes: The Return of True Color to Geostationary Satellites | journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society | publisher=American Meteorological Society | volume=97 | issue=10 | date=Oct 1, 2016 | issn=0003-0007 | doi=10.1175/bams-d-15-00154.1 | pages=1803–1816| bibcode=2016BAMS...97.1803M | s2cid=51994278 | doi-access=free }} composite Earth image (DODGE took color-filtered black-and-white images, put together they produced the very first color image of the full-disk).{{cite web | title=The First Color Images of the Earth from Space | website=Geography Realm | date=Mar 13, 2019 | url=https://www.geographyrealm.com/the-first-color-images-of-the-earth-from-space/ | access-date=Feb 2, 2022}} Its imaging capability has served during disaster situations, from the Mexico earthquake to the Mount St. Helens eruption.
ATS-3 experiments included VHF and C-band communications, a color spin-scan camera{{cite web|url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1967-111A-01|title=NASA – NSSDC – Experiment – Details – Multicolor Spin-Scan Cloudcover Camera (MSSCC)|publisher=NASA|access-date=17 November 2012}} (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.
Operational details
The satellite is in geo-synchronous orbit {{convert|21,156|mi|km|disp=flip|sp=us}} 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.Pae, Peter, "Satellites' Longevity Limits Sales", Los Angeles Times, December 1, 2008, p. C1.
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|date=November 2012}}
Gallery
File:Atlas-SLV3 Agena-D (ATS 3).jpg|Launch of ATS-3
File:Concept artwork of the ATS-3 satellite (G-66-3652).jpg|Concept artwork of the ATS-3 satellite.
File:ATSIII 10NOV67 153107.jpg|NASA's first color photo (digital image mosaic) of Earth, imaged in 1967 by ATS-3, was used as the cover of Whole Earth Catalog{{'}}s first edition.
File:The First Color Movie of the Planet Earth.webm|Time-lapse footage of the Earth captured by the NASA ATS III satellite in 1967.
File:Hurricane Agnes, 1972 (50700829497).jpg|Hurricane Agnes made landfall in Florida on June 18, 1972, seen here from the ATS-3 satellite before moving ashore.
File:The Super Outbreak, 1974 (50700829457).jpg|The April 3–4, 1974, "Super Outbreak" is the second-largest outbreak of tornadoes in the U.S. on record, and holds the record for the most F5 tornadoes on a single day. The image seen here is from the ATS-3 satellite on the afternoon of April 3, 1974, as the outbreak was beginning.
File:ATS-3 Satellite VHF Ground Station Antenna.jpg|ATS-3 Ground Station Antenna
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}{{Commons category}}
{{Clear}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20061116112354/http://www.n2yo.com/satellite.php?s=3029 Information and tracking]
- [https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19860066768_1986066768.pdf ATS-3 16 Year In Orbit Evaluation]
{{ATS Satellites}}
{{Orbital launches in 1967}}
{{Whole Earth}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:ATS-3}}
Category:Derelict satellites orbiting Earth
Category:Communications satellites
Category:Weather satellites of the United States