The Tiros I meteorological satellite was injected into orbit about the earth on April 1, 1960, at 11h 52m GMT. The purpose of the satellite was to photograph cloud patterns and distribution over the earth [Stroud, 1960]. In order to properly command the satellite from the ground to take direct or remote pictures, and in order to analyze these pictures when they are telemetered to the ground, the time, spatial coordinates, and spin-axis attitude of the satellite must be known. Ephemerides based on tracking data from the worldwide Minitrack Station Network and published by the NASA Space Computing Center determine accurately the spatial coordinates as a function of time. It was thought that, except for small perturbations, the spin-axis attitude would be space-stabilized for the nominal 3-month life of the satellite.
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Bandeen et al. (1960) studied this question.