The objective of Nimbus 5 was to test and evaluate advanced sensing technology, and to provide improved photographs of cloud formations.

[3] Nimbus 5 was launched on December 11, 1972, by a Delta rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, USA.

The ITPR was designed to obtain vertical profiles of temperature and moisture in the atmosphere.

A scanning mirror rotated ten times per second to sense sections 800 km wide.

[8] THIR was used for measuring cloud top temperatures and water vapor content in the stratosphere.