Japan Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS)
GMS-1
The Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS-1) was Japan's contribution to the international GARP (Global Atmospheric Research Program). One major objective of GARP was to obtain synoptic global meteorological data sets for one year's duration (to include two optimized observing periods of a few weeks each). These data served as raw material to optimize computer models for meteorological prediction. It was hoped that determination could be made of the time limitation for short-term modeling. The GMS series has been used for the World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Watch. The satellite was spin-stabilized with a despun earth-pointing antenna. The GMS series carried the Visible and Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR). Launched by a US Delta rocket in July 1977, the satellite was positioned near 140 deg E. Designed to operate for 5 years, the satellite was turned off in 1981 after 4 1/2 years in orbit. __________ Taken from the NSSDC System for Information Retrieval and Storage (SIRS). For more information contact the NSSDC Coordinated Request and User Support Office, 301-286-6695 (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 933.4, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA). WWW: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Technical contact: Yukio Haruyama, Earth Observation program office director, Program plannig and management department, National space development agency of Japan Head office Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan Phone: 81-3-5470-4252 Group: Platform_Details Entry_ID: GMS-1 Group: Platform_Identification Platform_Category: Earth Observation Satellites Platform_Series_or_Entity: GMS (Japan Geostationary Meteorological Satellite) Short_Name: GMS-1 Long_Name: Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-1 End_Group Group: Synonymous_Platform_Names Short_Name: GMS-1 End_Group Group: Platform_Associated_Instruments Short_Name: VISSR-GMS End_Group Group: Orbit Orbit_Altitude: 36,000 km Orbit_Type: GEO > Geosynchronous > Geostationary End_Group Creation_Date: 2007-10-01 Online_Resource: http://www.jaxa.jp/projects/sat/gms/index_e.html Online_Resource: http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/gms-1.htm Group: Platform_Logistics Launch_Date: 1977-07-14 Launch_Site: Cape Canaveral/Kennedy Space Center, USA Primary_Sponsor: Japan/JAXA End_Group End_Group