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Per L2 processing flow information for this launch, a replacement ORCA was shipped from the birth place of the Atlas V in Decatur, arriving the next day, allowing for the IST to be re-performed without issue.<\/p>\n
The vehicle\u2019s Booster Main Vehicle Batteries were also removed from the vehicle due to an anomalous indication relating to one battery exceeding a divergence requirement. Two reserve batteries are being prepared for installation on the vehicle on Saturday, with the troublesome battery sent to Denver for Fault Analysis.<\/p>\n
The vehicle passed its Flight Readiness Review (FRR) at the end of the week, ahead of a countdown dress rehearsal. Next up will be the Launch Readiness Review (LRR) on Monday, which will cover any action items from the FRR.<\/p>\n
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Passing the LRR will also will provide the go for the rollout of the Atlas V to the launch pad on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n
![\"Atlas](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Z47.jpg\" "\\"Atlas")
The Atlas V, flying in its 401 configuration, will be tasked with lofting the latest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System \u2013 a space-based communication system used to provide tracking, telemetry, command, and high bandwidth data return services to its many customers \u2013 into orbit.<\/p>\nCurrently, there are seven operational satellites that provide in-flight communications with spacecraft operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO). Aboard each satellite are multiple antennae that send and receive signals both to and from the ground to multiple satellites simultaneously.<\/p>\n
TDRS-K will launch to geostationary orbit and 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis launch will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA\u2019s scientific discoveries,\u201d noted Jeffrey Gramling, project manager for TDRS at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n
![\"TDRS-K](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Z310.jpg\" "\\"TDRS-K")
The TDRS fleet began operating during the space shuttle era and provides critical communication support including for the International Space Station (ISS). The fleet also provides communications support to an array of science missions, as well as various types of launch vehicles.<\/p>\n\u201cThe TDRS satellites provide NASA with crucial crosslink communications between orbiting spacecraft and control and data processing facilities on Earth,\u201d said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cTDRS K is a major step toward improving how high-resolution images, video, voice and data are transmitted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of the nine TDRS satellites launched, seven are still operational, although four are already beyond their design life. Two have been retired.<\/p>\n
The timing of the launch of TDRS K will be just days after the anniversary of the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 \u2013 a disaster that also saw the destruction of the second TDRS.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, another Atlas V is preparing for its own launch, scheduled for just over a week after its sister rocket launches from Cape Canaveral.<\/p>\n
![\"LDCM](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Z57.jpg\" "\\"LDCM")
Again launching in the 401 configuration, the West Coast Atlas V is scheduled to lift-off on February 11 from SLC-3E at Vandenberg. The passenger is the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite.<\/p>\nLDCM is a joint NASA and US Geological Survey mission, and is the eighth satellite in the Landsat series, which began in 1972.<\/p>\n
The satellite will add to the longest continuous data record of Earth\u2019s surface as viewed from space and will extend the history of global land observations that are critical in many areas, such as energy and water management, forest monitoring, human and environmental health, urban planning, disaster recovery and agriculture.<\/p>\n
![\"LDCM\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Z661.jpg\" "\\"LDCM\\"")
\u201cLDCM builds on and strengthens a key American resource: a decades-long, unbroken Landsat-gathered record of our planet\u2019s natural resources, particularly its food, water and forests,\u201d noted Jim Irons, Landsat project scientist at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space FlightCenter.<\/p>\nLDCM carries two instruments, the Operational Land Imager (OLI) built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., and theThermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) built by NASA Goddard.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of these instruments have evolutionary advances that make them the most advanced Landsat instruments to date and are designed to improve performance and reliability to improve observations of the global land surface,\u201d added Ken Schwer, LDCM project manager at NASA Goddard.<\/p>\n
The spacecraft will be sent on its way to a polar orbit of 438 miles at an inclination of 98.2 degrees.<\/p>\n
(Images via ULA and NASA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rockets are preparing to launch on opposite coastlines of the United States just days apart. On the east coast, an Atlas V is scheduled to launch NASA\u2019s TDRS-K satellite on January 30, while on the west coast another Atlas V is preparing for the February 11 launch of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7758,3914,363],"class_list":["post-39926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-atlas-v","tag-tdrs","tag-ula"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39926"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}