Have you ever wondered what the atmosphere consists of? What is it made of, what kind of weather conditions are there, what does a hurricane or other natural phenomenon of today's weather look like? Well America, let's hope we can now! Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and the effects it has on our weather. Climatology focuses on how atmospheric changes alter the world's climates, aeronomy is the study of the upper parts of the atmosphere. Meteorology focuses on the lower parts of the atmosphere, primarily the troposphere, where most weather occurs. It was released that under the supervision of NASA, President Dwight D Eisenhower and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), they launched a satellite called TIROS 1 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, which will observe, record and transmit data to the headquarters . The first ever weather satellite has arrived and will hopefully change weather forecasts for the future. TIROS stands for Television Infrared Observation Satellite. The satellite weighs 270 pounds, has a diameter of 42 inches and a height of 19 inches. The satellite was launched into space by a Thor-Able rocket. The TIROS satellite carries with it two six-inch long cameras. One of the cameras has a wide-angle lens that can view an 800-mile radius of the earth at a time. The other camera has a photo lens with a magnification of 10-12 compared to the wide-angle camera. The satellite is stabilized in its orbit by rotation (similar to that of a spinning top). When it first separates from the rocket's third stage, it will spin at about 136 revolutions per minute. To take clear photos, a de-spin mechanism will slow the satellite down to 12 revolutions per minute after... half the paper... and spotted. The first major discovery made by TIROS 1 was to image a high degree of organization in cloud patterns. This revelation increased the use of weather observation from orbiting satellites. Image analyst professionals at the US Weather Bureau have also found that all cyclones (hurricanes, nor-easterners, tornadoes, etc.) are characterized by a very distinct vortex cloud pattern located in the center. Because of these mutual characteristics, large-scale cloud and weather systems could be easily recognized and monitored over many days. TIROS I detected a storm off the coast of Madagascar and followed it through its cameras for five consecutive days! Yet another important finding was that weather fronts associated with mid-latitude storms are surprisingly clear and easily identifiable on satellite weather photographs. Zachary Kovalovsky Life Magazine