The Complete Book of Spaceflight: From Apollo 1 to Zero Gravity

438 Tipu Sultan
“Ralph” and “Norton” and officially designated USA 123
and USA 124) connected by a 4-km space tether. After
being jettisoned by their launch vehicle, the two masses
(42 kg and 10 kg) moved apart as the tether was unwound
from an SEDS box carried by the heavier mass. Data
transmitted to the ground showed how the connected
masses subsequently moved.
Tipu Sultan (c. 1750–1799)
A sultan of Mysore who successfully deployed rockets
against the British army at Srirangapatana, India, in 1792
and 1799. Tipu Sultan was the first to use rockets in
which the combustion powder was contained within a
metal cylinder. The devices, which weighed about 2 kg,
including 1 kg of gunpowder propellant, carried a sword
blade as a warhead and were launched from bamboo
tubes. Their effectiveness prompted the further development
of military rockets by William Congreve.
TIROS (Television Infrared Observation System)
A long-running series of polar-orbiting meteorological
satellites. It began with 10 experimental spacecraft,
TIROS 1 to 10, launched between 1960 and 1965. These
TIROS (Television Infrared Observation System) TIROS 8 in
simulated orbit. NASA
carried low-resolution television and infrared cameras,
and were developed by the Goddard Space Flight Center
and managed by ESSA (Environmental Science Services
Administration). Then followed the TOS (TIROS Operational
System), consisting of nine satellites with the
ESSA designation. This gave way to the ITOS (Improved
TIROS), beginning with TIROS-M and continuing
with five satellites of the same design with the NOAA
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
designation—NOAA having by this time absorbed ESSA
and taken over management of the TIROS program. Further
upgrades have come in the form of the TIROS-N,
introduced in 1978, and the Advanced TIROS-N, introduced
in 1984. (See table, “TIROS Series.”)
Launch sites
Cape Canaveral (TIROS 1–10, ESSA 1–2, 9)
Vandenberg (ESSA 3–8, TIROS-M, TIROS-N,
NOAA 1–16)
Titan
See article, pages 440–442.
Titan Explorer
A spacecraft that would conduct an in-depth analysis of
the icy, organic-rich environment on Saturn’s largest
moon. Titan Explorer is a candidate mission in NASA’s
Outer Planet program and is identified in the Office of
Space Science Strategic Plan.
Tito, Dennis (1941–)
The world’s first space tourist. Millionaire businessman
Tito blasted off aboard a Soyuz supply ship on April 28,
2001, in the company of two veteran cosmonauts, for a
10-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS), having
paid Russian space chiefs about $20 million (£14 million)
for the privilege. The 60-year-old American became
the 415th person in space and the first as a private, paying
traveler. Tito started his career in the 1960s as a space
scientist with JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), helping
plan flight trajectories for several early Mars probes,
before leaving to set up a finance company, through
which he made his fortune. He first looked into a space
vacation in 1991, on a trip to Moscow, and booked a
berth aboard Mir—only to see it canceled when Russian
space officials decided to de-orbit the station. Instead,
Tito was offered a ride on a supply mission to the ISS.
Tito’s former employer, NASA, objected to the trip, citing
safety concerns, but begrudgingly agreed to his visit,
subject to his signing contracts relieving all national
space agencies of responsibility in the event of a tragedy
and saying that he would pay for any breakages he
(continued on page 442)