operational experiment with early imaging and weather broadcast systems. Nine of ESSA's TOS satellites were launched between 1966 and 1969, each named "ESSA" followed by a number from 1 to 9, beginning with the launch of ESSA-1 on 3 February 1966. The last of these satellites was decommissioned in 1977, but ESSA's work with NASA laid the foundation for the deployment of the first geostationary weather satellites, the Synchronous Meteorological Satellites of 1974 and 1975. United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Under the 1965 reorganization, the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, whose history dated to 1807, was subordinated to ESSA. While under ESSA, it retained its distinct identity and continued to carry out its responsibilities for coastal and oceanic hydrographic surveys, geodetic work in the interior of the United States and at sea, and other scientific work, such as in seismology. The Coast and Geodetic Survey also continued to operate its fleet of survey ships and research ships while subordinate to ESSA. U.S. ESSA Commissioned Officer Corps (ESSA Corps) In the 1965 reorganization, the commissioned officers of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, a component of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey with a history dating back to 1917, were transferred to the control of the United States Secretary of Commerce. This created the United States Environmental Science Services Commissioned Officer Corps, known informally as the "ESSA Corps," whose director reported directly to the ESSA Administrator. Like the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps before it, the ESSA Corps was responsible for providing commissioned officers to operate the Coast and Geodetic Survey's ships, fly aircraft, support peacetime defense requirements and purely civilian scientific projects, and provide a ready source of technically skilled officers which could be incorporated into the United States armed forces in time of war, and was one of the uniformed services of the United States. Senior leadership Robert M. White (1923–2015) served as the Administrator of ESSA throughout its existence. On the day ESSA and the ESSA Corps were created, Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps Rear Admiral Henry Arnold Karo (1903–1986) simultaneously became an ESSA Corps officer and was promoted to vice admiral to serve as ESSA's first deputy administrator. At the time the highest-ranking officer in the combined history of the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps and ESSA Corps, Vice Admiral Karo served as Deputy Administrator of ESSA from 1965 to 1967. He was the