Artist's impresion of the TIROS N meteorological satellite, 1978.

TIROS (Television Infra-Red Observational Satellite) N was the NASA prototype for the fourth generation of operational meteorological satellites. It was launched on 13th October 1978 and was followed into orbit in June 1979 by the first operational satellite in the series, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) 6.