CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite,
known as TDRS-K, arrived Tuesday at the agency's Kennedy Space Center
in Florida in preparation for a Jan. 29 launch. TDRS-K arrived aboard a
U.S. Air Force C-17 from the Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems
assembly facility in El Segundo, Calif.
For almost 30 years,
the TDRS spacecraft have provided a reliable communications network for
NASA, serving numerous national and international space missions. The
TDRS fleet is a space-based communication system used to provide
tracking, telemetry, command, and high bandwidth data return services.
The satellites provide in-flight communications with spacecraft
operating in low-Earth orbit. It has been 10 years since NASA's last
TDRS launch.
"This launch will provide even greater
capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's
scientific discoveries," says Jeffrey Gramling, project manager for
TDRS at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
TDRS-K will launch to geostationary orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket. The
spacecraft is the first of three next-generation satellites designed to
ensure vital operational continuity for NASA by expanding the lifespan
of the fleet. The launch of TDRS-L is scheduled for 2014 and TDRS-M in
2015.
Each of the new satellites has a higher performance
solar panel design to provide more spacecraft power. This upgrade will
return signal processing for the S-Band multiple access service to the
ground -- the same as the first-generation TDRS spacecraft. Ground-based
processing allows TDRS to service more customers with different and
evolving communication requirements.
The TDRS fleet began
operating during the space shuttle era and provides critical
communication support from several locations in geostationary orbit to
NASA's human spaceflight endeavors, including the International Space
Station. The fleet also provides communications support to an array of
science missions, as well as various types of launch vehicles. Of the
nine TDRS satellites launched, seven are still operational, although
four are already beyond their design life. Two have been retired. The
second TDRS was lost in 1986 during the space shuttle Challenger
accident.
NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program,
part of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the
agency's Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for the TDRS
network. NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy is responsible for
launch management. United Launch Alliance provides the Atlas V rocket
launch service.
To join the online conversation about TDRS on
Twitter, follow the hashtag #TDRS. To learn more about all the ways to
connect and collaborate with NASA, visit:
For more information about TDRS, visit:
New Expedition 34 Crew Members Ready for Launch
12.18.12
Final launch preparations are under way at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan as three new Expedition 34 crew members are ready to begin a
two-day journey to join their crewmates aboard the International Space
Station.
Flight Engineers Tom Marshburn, Roman Romanenko and Chris Hadfield are
set to launch aboard their Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft at 7:12 a.m. EST
(6:12 p.m. Baikonur time) Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome,
Kazakhstan.
Coverage of the launch will begin at 6 a.m. Wednesday on NASA TV.
› NASA TV schedule for Soyuz launch coverage› Watch NASA TV
The new trio will join current station residents Commander Kevin Ford
and Flight Engineers Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin when they dock
their Soyuz to the Rassvet module at 9:12 a.m. Friday.
Meanwhile aboard the orbiting laboratory, Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin
were busy with a variety of science experiments and maintenance duties
Tuesday as they await the launch and arrival of their crew mates.
Commander Kevin Ford measured the water quality inside the Aquatic
Habitat, which is currently home to some space-faring Medaka fish.
Astronauts experience a loss of bone density during long-duration
spaceflight, and Japanese scientists are using the fish as a model
animal to understand the causes with the Medaka Osteoclast experiment.
› Read more about Medaka Osteoclast› Read more about the Aquatic Habitat
Ford also performed some regular maintenance on the COLBERT treadmill in
the Tranquility node and routed a LAN cable into the cupola.
Novitskiy worked on the Coulomb Crystal experiment, which studies the
dynamics of solid dispersed environments in an inhomogeneous magnetic
field in microgravity. He also completed some onboard training in his
role as a Crew Medical Officer and continued to unload supplies from the
ISS Progress 49 cargo craft.
Tarelkin worked with the Identifikatsia experiment, which investigates
dynamic loads on the station during events such as dockings, reboosts
and crew exercise sessions.
› Read more about Identifikatsia
He also downloaded some data from the radiation dosimeters in the
Russian segment and continued packing the ISS Progress 48 cargo craft
with trash and other unneeded items.
› Send a holiday postcard to the station crew› Read more about Expedition 34
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
Expedition 34/35 Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn of NASA, left, Soyuz
Commander Roman Romanenko and Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer
Chris Hadfield, right, pose for a photo at a press conference held at
the Cosmonaut Hotel, on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2012, in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
Photo Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi
Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin floats through a hatchway between the
Unity node (background) and the Destiny laboratory of the International
Space Station. Credit: NASA
