Day: April 8, 1970

Nimbus 4

NimbusNASA launches the Nimbus 4 satellite, designed to observe weather patterns from orbit and test new weather and climate detection technologies. Nimbus 4 is among the first satellites to test what will become known as global positioning system technology, capable of pinpointing ground-based targets with special equipment. The satellite begins to experience intermittent attitude control problems in 1971, but remains in at least partial service through 1980.