ESSA

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ESSA-1 (Environmental Science Services Administration Satellite Program)

Launch date: February 03, 1966

Place of launch: Cape Canaveral, FL

Mission objective: Weather Satellite

Accomplishments: Full improvement of Nimbus project regarding the cloud formation in order to get an even more accurate weather forecast based on the TIROS 9 platform.

The Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA) Satellite Program was initiated as an extension of, and a complement to, the TIROS Program. Like TIROS, the ESSA Program's primary objective was to provide cloud-cover photography to the American National Meteorological Center.

Over a period of almost 4 years, ESSA satellites transmitted thousands of images back to Earth, enabling ground stations to predict weather patterns, including hurricanes. Advances in technology allowed ESSA to more than double the amount of information gathered over the life of the program. When ESSA-6 was deactivated by NASA, its images were reaching more than 300 receiving stations around the world, in 45 countries.

ESSA imagery was of a much wider scope, and better resolution, than the TIROS 9 program. ESSA design and missions were the result of a combined effort on the part of NASA, the Environmental Science Services Administration, the US Weather Bureau and the National Meteorological Center. Its success prompted further exploration of using space-borne weather prediction and monitoring devices, like ATS and the NIMBUS series.