earth science

Kosmos 156

Kosmos 156 is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kosmos 156 rather than just read about it. In short: Kosmos 156 (Russian: Космос 156) was a Soviet weather satellite launched on 27 April 1967, one of eleven weather satellites launched by the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1969. It formed part of the experimental "Meteor" weather satellite system.

Key takeaways

Kosmos 156 belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Kosmos 156 to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Kosmos 156 from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kosmos 156 (Russian: Космос 156) was a Soviet weather satellite launched on 27 April 1967, one of eleven weather satellites launched by the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1969. It formed part of the experimental "Meteor" weather satellite system. In 1969, the Kosmos satellite series was scrapped for the more modern and updated Meteor satellite.

Spacecraft Kosmos 156 was a large cylindrical capsule, 5 metres (16 ft) long and 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) in diameter. It had a mass of 4,730 kilograms (10,430 lb). Two large solar panels of four segments each were deployed from opposite sides of the cylinder after satellite separation from the launch vehicle. The solar panels were rotated to constantly face the Sun during satellite daytime using a Sun sensor-controlled drive mechanism fitted in the top end of the centre body. Its meteorological instruments, consisting of a magnetometer, 465-MHz radio antennas, and orbital control devices were housed in a smaller, hermetically sealed cylinder located on the Earthward-facing end of the cylindrical satellite body. The satellite was triaxially stabilised by a series of inertial flywheels driven by electric motors, whose kinetic energy was dampened by torques produced by electromagnets interacting with the Earth's magnetic field. Kosmos 156 was oriented with one axis directed Earthward along the local vertical, another oriented along the orbital velocity vector, and the third oriented perpendicular to the orbital plane. This orientation ensured that the optical axes of the instruments were constantly directed Earthward.

Instrumentation Kosmos 156's instrumentation consisted of:

Two vidicon cameras for daytime cloud cover pictures A high-resolution scanning infrared radiometer for nighttime and daytime imaging of the Earth and clouds An array of narrow-angle and wide-angle radiometers covering the 0.3–3 μm, 8–12 μm, and 3–30 μm channels to measure the intensity of radiation reflected from clouds and oceans, the surface temperatures of the Earth and cloud tops, and the total flux of thermal energy from the Earth-atmosphere system into space, respectively

Dual vidicon cameras Kosmos 156's dual vidicon cameras were designed to test the capability of Soviet weather satellites to provide daytime pictures of the Earth's cloud-cover distribution, local storms, and global weather systems. The instrumentation consisted of two identical vidicon cameras that were mounted in the satellite base and were directed toward the Earth. Each camera viewed an area measuring 500 kilometres (310 mi) by 500 kilometres (310 mi), one to the left and the other to the right of nadir, with a resolution of 1.25 kilometres (0.78 mi) at nadir from a satellite altitude of 600–700 kilometres (370–430 mi). The cameras took a one-frame image of the Earth's cloud cover with slight overlapping of successive frames to provide continuous coverage. The cameras switched on automatically any time the sun was more than 5° above the horizon. Automatic sensors adjusted camera apertures to produce high-quality pictures under a variety of illumination conditions. If the satellite within the radio contact zone of one of two ground stations, images from each vidicon tube were transmitted directly to the ground. Otherwise, they were recorded on magnetic tape for later transmission. The TV images received by these ground stations were processed and transmitted to the Hydrometeorological Center in Moscow, where they were used in forecasting and analysis and subsequently archived. Kosmos 156 had a significantly lower orbital altitude than its U.S. counterparts, the ESSA satellites (614 kilometres (382 mi) vs. 1,400 kilometres (870 mi). As a result, it could not provide continuous overlapping global coverage despite its cameras having 2.5 times the resolution of those carried on the ESSA satellites. To close coverage gaps, at least two satellites were required in the satellite system. Cloud-cover mosaics were produced from 10 or more individual cloud-cover pictures at the Soviet Hydrometeorological Center to provide a more comprehensive view of global weather systems.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kosmos 156

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kosmos 156 claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kosmos 156 before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kosmos 156 ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kosmos 156

In research: Kosmos 156 appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Kosmos 156 in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Kosmos 156 is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1967 in the Soviet Union, Kosmos satellites, Spacecraft launched in 1967, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Kosmos 156 outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Kosmos 156 in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Kosmos 156 means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Kosmos 156 out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kosmos 156 in simple terms?

Why does Kosmos 156 matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kosmos 156?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kosmos 156.