Also called:
Nimbus F
Date of launch (location):
June 12, 1975 (WTR)
Launch vehicle:
Delta 2910
Weight (kg):
585
Shape:
butterfly (1.42-meter torus ring base
and hexagonal shaped housing plus two solar paddle
wings)
Dimensions (m):
3.05 tall
3.55 wide
1.52 diameter ring
Power source:
Solar panels plus 8 NiCd
batteries
Responsible NASA center:
GE Company
Project manager:
Jack Sargent
Project scientist:
John S. Theon
Objectives:
Contribute to the Global Atmospheric
Research Program (GARP) by refining and extending the
capability for vertically sounding the temperature and
moisture of the atmosphere; provide experimental monitoring
of environmental conditions (e.g., sea ice cover,
rainfall),
Equipment:
Temperature Humidity Infrared
Radiometer (THIR)
Electrically Scanning Microwave
Radiometer (ESMR)
Scanning Microwave Radiometer
(SCAMS)
High Resolution Infrared Sounder
(HIRS)
Tropical Wind, Energy Conversion, and
Reference Level Experiment (TWERLE)
Earth Radiation Budget Experiment
(ERB)
Limb Radiance Inversion Radiometer
(LRIR)
Pressure Modulated Radiometer
(PMR)
Tracking and Data Relay Experiment
(T&DRE)
Results:
Successful; ceased operations in
September 1983; TWERLE used many ways beyond balloon
tracking: ocean temperature from buoys, animal migration,
adventurers (Eagle 1 trans-Atlantic balloon; dog-sled
expedition at the North Pole), sailing vessels. Satellite
demonstrated the data relay capabilities of the Tracking and
Data Relay Experiment.
Reference: NASA, "Nimbus 6 Mission Operations Report," S-604-75-07, June 3, 1975; and Charles Cote, Ralph Taylor, and Eugene Gilbert, eds., Nimbus 6 Random Access Measurement System Applications Experiments, NASA SP-457 (Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1982).