Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Destination: Alpha Centauri => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on January 24, 2014, 07:41:30 pm

Title: Rocket blasts off with NASA communications satellite
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 24, 2014, 07:41:30 pm

Rocket blasts off with NASA communications satellite
Reuters
By Irene Klotz  16 hours ago



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan 23 (Reuters) - An unmanned rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday to put the newest member of NASA's space communications network into orbit.

The 19-story tall Atlas 5 rocket, built and launched by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, lifted off at 9:33 p.m. EST (0233 GMT Friday).

With the 3.8-ton (3,447-kg) Boeing-built Tracking and Data Relay Satellite perched on its nose, the rocket blazed through clear, star-filled skies as it headed southeast over the Atlantic Ocean toward orbit.

The satellite, called TDRS, is the 12th built for a NASA constellation that circles more than 22,300 miles (35,888 km) above Earth. The satellites are strategically positioned over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans where they can continuously track and communicate with the space station and dozens of other fast-moving spacecraft some 22,000 miles (35,406 km) below.

"This capability is analogous to standing at the top of the Empire State Building and tracking an ant as it marches its way down the sidewalk in front of the building," Boeing program director Andy Kopito told reporters during a prelaunch press conference at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday.

Eight members of the network currently remain in orbit. Two have been decommissioned and were incinerated as they fell back into Earth's atmosphere. A third satellite was destroyed in the 1986 space shuttle Challenger accident.

NASA ordered a 13th and final TDRS satellite to ensure the network can operate through 2030. By then, NASA expects to transition to laser communications and other upgrades that will significantly boost capability and cut costs, said NASA deputy associate administrator Badri Younes.

NASA paid a combined $715 million for the TDRS satellite launched on Thursday and its predecessor, launched in January 2013, Younes said.

That amount also covered ongoing upgrades to its prime ground communications station in White Sands, New Mexico. The next satellite, which should be ready for launch in 2016, will cost about $290 million. TDRS network operation and maintenance add another $70 million to $80 million a year, Younes said.

Besides supporting the space station, a $100 billion project of 15 nations, the TDRS satellites are used by NASA's fleet of Earth-observing satellites and telescopes, such as the Hubble observatory.

Other agencies, including the U.S. military and non-U.S. space agencies, use the TDRS network on a part-time and as-needed basis. The tracking and communications services also are available to commercial companies - including United Launch Alliance, which uses TDRS to track its rockets during liftoff.

One minute on TDRS' highest bandwidth, which is 300 megabits per second, costs $139, Younes said, although many non-NASA users barter for time on the network. NASA also is shifting from per-minute fees to charging based on percentage of use, he added.


http://news.yahoo.com/rocket-blasts-off-nasa-communications-031359270.html (http://news.yahoo.com/rocket-blasts-off-nasa-communications-031359270.html)

Title: NASA launches communications satellite
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 24, 2014, 07:44:23 pm

NASA launches communications satellite
AFP
5 hours ago


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This NASA photo obtained December 13, 2012 shows the United Launch Alliance Delta II Heavy rocket on Septemeber 10, 2012 (AFP Photo/)



Washington (AFP) - NASA on Thursday launched a new satellite to boost its growing communications network between Earth and the International Space Station, allowing for nearly uninterrupted video, voice link and data transmission.

The TDRS-L rocket blasted off at 9:33 pm (0233 GMT Friday) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on its way to become the 11th member of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

One hour and 46 minutes later, the 3.45 tonne satellite designed to work for 15 years separated from the second stage of the rocket, NASA tweeted.

It will now spend the next 11 days adjusting into its definitive geostationary orbit.

The fleet of satellites has "revolutionized communications" for NASA "by allowing nearly continuous transmission of information during a mission," the agency said.

The first TDRS satellite was launched in 1983.

Before then, communications to space were spotty and based on a small number of ground stations worldwide, leaving many gaps.

"Astronauts and Earth-orbiting scientific spacecraft would relay messages only when they passed over or near one of the ground stations," said NASA.

Now, the network of TDRS satellites combines to convey near-continuous signals, information and commands from ground controllers to the International Space Station as well the Hubble Space Telescope and a range of scientific satellites.

The satellite blasted off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, destined for an orbit 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) above the Earth.


http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-launches-communications-satellite-144137416.html (http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-launches-communications-satellite-144137416.html)

Title: NASA launches newest communication satellite
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 24, 2014, 08:43:00 pm

NASA launches newest communication satellite
Associated Press
By MARCIA DUNN  17 hours ago


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In a photo provided by NASA a United Launch Alliance Atlas V with TDRS-L atop, arrives at the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla., Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. The unmanned rocket is set to blast off Thursday night, Jan. 23, 2014, with the latest, third-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. (AP Photo/Daniel Casper )



CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA's super-high-flying fleet of communication satellites just got bigger.

An unmanned rocket blasted into a chilly, clear sky Thursday night carrying the latest, third-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

NASA uses the TDRS satellites to support the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope, among other craft. The network is 22,300 miles high, at various locations above the equator, and allows continuous two-way contact with the space station and its six inhabitants.

The TDRS system is so vital it's considered a national asset.

A modern-day human space program would be difficult if not impossible without the constant coverage provided by the TDRS satellites, said Badri Younes, NASA's deputy associate administrator for space communications and navigation. Ground stations — limited in number — would provide just a fraction of that capability.

Each satellite has a pair of dish antennas 15 feet in diameter.


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In a photo provided by NASA a United Launch Alliance Atlas V with TDRS-L atop, arrives at the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla., Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41. The unmanned rocket is set to blast off Thursday night, Jan. 23, 2014, with the latest, third-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. (AP Photo/Daniel Casper )


"Not only are we getting global coverage 100 percent of the time, we are getting it in real time," Younes said, snapping his fingers, at a news conference earlier this week.

"Without such support, we'd have to live with coverage around the 10 to 15 percent," he said. "No human spaceflight program can be supported at this data rate. And even our ability to respond real time to emergency would diminish drastically. So that's why the TDRS has been declared as a national asset."

NASA is the primary user; the TDRS system also occasionally assists other countries' space agencies and the U.S. military. In 2002, a TDRS satellite allowed Massachusetts doctors to oversee knee surgery performed at the South Pole.

This newest $350 million satellite — which will work its way up from a temporarily low orbit — is designated "L'' in the TDRS series. NASA will rename it TDRS-12 once it's checked out in orbit, by late spring.

NASA launched its first TDRS in 1983 aboard a space shuttle. The previous satellite, TDRS-11, soared in January 2013.


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n this photo provided by NASA, NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft arrives atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V at the launch pad Wednesday Jan. 22, 2014. Liftoff is targeted for the opening of a 40-minute launch window at 9:05 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 23. (AP Photo/NASA)


Officials said they need six active TDRS satellites in orbit at any one time, along with a ready-to-go spare.

The newly launched, Boeing-built satellite will serve as an extra spare. The next in the series — TDRS-M — will be launched sometime in the early 2020s.

Of the 11 previous TDRS satellites, six are in service, one is in orbital storage, two are retired and one, No. 11, is still undergoing testing. No. 2 was destroyed with the space shuttle Challenger and crew in 1986.

Thursday's liftoff was delayed briefly by a last-minute data dropout with the Atlas V rocket. Launch controllers worked around the problem.

___

Online:

NASA: http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/)


http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-launches-newest-communication-satellite-023738928.html (http://news.yahoo.com/nasa-launches-newest-communication-satellite-023738928.html)