TDRS-11 (TDRS-K) - Atlas V 401 - Canaveral - 31.01.2013 01:48 UTC

[Space Alien]

Engine Cutoff
Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:30:36 AM GMT+0400

The Centaur has completed its final burn and is positioning for release of the TDRS-K spacecraft.

[Space Alien]

TDRS-K Released!
Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:34:22 AM GMT+0400
Spacecraft separation! One hour and 46 minutes after a spectacular launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the TDRS-K spacecraft is flying solo after its release from the Centaur upper stage.

[DMLL]

После более чем 10-летнего перерыва.

В такой конфигурации на отлетные траектории Атлас-5 сколько кг вытянет?

[Space Alien]

[Veganin]

Красиво улетела.

[bavv]

[Salo]

[К.А.]

Артём Жаров пишет:

TDRS-K Released!
Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:34:22 AM GMT+0400
Spacecraft separation! One hour and 46 minutes after a spectacular launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the TDRS-K spacecraft is flying solo after its release from the Centaur upper stage.

По моим данным 4 950 кг на переходную орбиту.

[К.А.]

LL* пишет:
После более чем 10-летнего перерыва.

В такой конфигурации на отлетные траектории Атлас-5 сколько кг вытянет?

По моим данным 4 950 кг на переходную орбиту.

[instml]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av036/status.html

 
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2013


 NASA's newest communications relay satellite, launched fr om Cape Canaveral last Wednesday, has begun maneuvering itself towards geosynchronous orbit over the Pacific Ocean. The Boeing Co. designed and built the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K for NASA and is controlling the spacecraft during its early days in orbit.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket carried TDRS K into a geosynchronous transfer orbit, an elliptical type of orbit that is the customary drop off point for spacecraft bound for a parking spot about 22,300 miles above Earth. The launcher released the payload into the preliminary orbit with a high point of 22,245 statute miles, low point of 2,680 statute miles and inclination of 25.6 degrees.
From there, Boeing satellite controllers will reduce the inclination and raise the low point to circularize it into a geosynchronous orbit wh ere TDRS K can match Earth's rotation and appear parked at 150 degrees West longitude, the planned location of in-space testing and checkout.
The first of five firings of the satellite's onboard engine was successfully accomplished on Sunday, said John Leuer, the TDRS K program director at Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems.
"TDRS K is performing well on-orbit," he said.
The satellite stood 26 feet tall and weighed over 7,600 pounds at launch, including 3,700 pounds of maneuvering fuel loaded inside the craft. Once fully deployed in space, TDRS K's solar wings will stretch 69 feet tip-to-tip to generate 3,220 watts of power and charge internal nickel-hydrogen batteries.
The primary physical feature of the satellite is two 15-foot-diameter flexible graphite mesh antenna dishes that were folded like taco shells for launch, then successfully sprung into shape once released in orbit.
"The 15 ft diameter Single Access antenna reflectors are now unfurled," Leuer said.
The antennas offer gimbal tracking of targeted spacecraft flying beneath the satellite, providing high-gain communications to the station, Hubble and other craft for vital contacts and data dumps.
After finishing the orbit-raising activities later this week, the spacecraft's full appendages will be deployed, starting with one solar array, then the booms holding the Single Access antennas fold out, the other solar wing extends, the forward Omni swings into place and the space-to-ground antenna is positioned.
Once the satellite undergoes three months of testing at 150 degrees West, NASA will "take the keys" from Boeing and drift the craft to its operational location at 171 degrees West for the start of a 15-year service life later this spring.
"With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space network," said Jeffrey Gramling, NASA's TDRS project manager. "This addition to our current fleet of seven will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's scientific discoveries."

[DMLL]

На ГСО, наклонение 7 град.

[Старый]

Тэдээрэска.

[instml]

NASA ACCEPTS THIRD GENERATION TDRS INTO NETWORK

NASA has accepted ownership of its newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) from Boeing after successfully completing in orbit testing. TDRS-K, will be renamed TDRS-11 upon entry into service.

This is a major step in replenishing an aging TDRS fleet which is essential in providing communications to support space exploration," said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters. "We look forward to the launch of two additional satellites in the next few years to complete the replenishment program."

The TDRS fleet provides communications support to an array of science missions, as well as several launch vehicles. The network has provided critical real-time communication with NASA's human spaceflights since early in the Space Shuttle Program. TDRS network operations continue to provide support for International Space Station activities.

"The acceptance of this spacecraft is the result of many years of hard work by dedicated team members at NASA and Boeing," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "This next generation of spacecraft ensure network continuity for at least another decade."

Goddard is home to the TDRS Project Office, which is responsible for the development and launch of the communication satellites. The Boeing Company headquartered in Chicago, Ill., is the private contractor for the TDRS K, L and M satellites. TDRS is the space element of NASA's Space Network, providing the critical communication lifeline for NASA missions. 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 NASA's Space Network.

The TDRS fleet now consists of eight satellites with ground stations at White Sands, N.M. and Guam. NASA's upgrade to the network includes modifications to those ground terminals.

The TDRS Project was established in 1973 to provide continuous communications to NASA's critical low Earth-orbiting science and human spaceflight missions. When TDRS-1 was launched from space shuttle Challenger in 1983, TDRS spacecraft were the largest, most sophisticated communication satellites ever built. TDRS-1 provided NASA an exponential increase in data rates and contact time communicating with spacecraft.

NASA continued adding TDRS spacecraft (the first seven were built by TRW, later to become Northrop Grumman) until 1995. TDRS-2 was lost during the Challenger accident in 1986. From 2000 to 2002, NASA added three spacecraft to the fleet, establishing the second generation. The H, I, and J, satellites were built by Hughes (later to become Boeing) and continue to operate along with members of the now aging first generation. TDRS-1 was retired in 2010 and TDRS-4 in 2011.

On Jan. 30, TDRS-K was launched aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Before this year's launch it had been 10 years since NASA last added a TDRS to the network. These next-generation satellites are being built at Boeing's Space & Intelligence Systems in El Segundo, Calif.

TDRS-K, L, M, together with the other spacecraft that continue to operate well beyond their design life, will ensure NASA's critical missions will be supported into the 2020's. The launch of TDRS-L is slated for January 2014 and TDRS-M will be ready for launch in December of 2015.

For more information about NASA's TDRS satellites, visit:

http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/

For more information about SCaN, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/SCaN

http://tdrs.gsfc.nasa.gov/newsroom/430.html

[Dude]

Старый пишет:
Тэдээрэска.

Эх, опередил, старый ниньзя....

[horsh]

del

[SFN]