How do you get cameras, infra-red sensors, microwave sensors into space so they can observe the cloud patterns, wind and wave patterns, humidity and temperature patterns, and other phenomena that indicate the state of weather and climate on our planet. This is the problem confronting engineers who design the satellites that ride atop the mighty rockets that launch these vehicles into orbit. The solutions have been disks such as the early TIROS vehicles, vehicles that are either cylinders or cubic such as various GOES vehicles, or even vehicles such as the TIROS -N series that looked somewhat like an orbiting boxcar. All of these vehicles have a proud heritage of observing vital weather information for helping save lives and protect property.