TIROS 1
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's On Air series looks at TIROS 1, the world's first weather satellite, launched in 1960.
Key moments
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Watch this moment · 0:54
TIROS 1 introduced as the first weather satellite
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Watch this moment · 1:14
Solar cells, antenna, receiver and two cameras
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Watch this moment · 1:48
Launched in 1960, early in the Space Age
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Watch this moment · 3:12
Meteorologist Steve Nesbitt reads the first images
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Watch this moment · 3:57
Images had no maps, so locations were guessed
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Watch this moment · 4:30
Photos pasted together on a world map
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Watch this moment · 5:25
Forecasting then and now
Key facts
| Mission name | TIROS 1 |
|---|---|
| Crew size | 0 |
Videos about this mission
The videos, in date order
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September 2026
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TIROS 1: The First Weather Satellite and Its Fuzzy First Images
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Watch videoDates are when each video was first published on YouTube.
Sources: The facts and written text on this page come from the 1 video on this page, by Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
