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Atlas IIA / TDRS-I Launch from CCAS Pad 36-A

Launched Friday, March 8, 2002 5:59 pm EST

Watch Replay of the launch via RealMedia Streaming video - (Download Archive 4Mb )

[TDRS-I Launch] [TDRS-I Launch]
Views of TDRS-I spacecraft onboard a Lockheed Atlas IIA (AC-143) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida from Launch Complex 36-A. Launch window was 40 minutes.

The Commercial Atlas IIA mission launched the TDRS-I communication satellite on Friday, March 8, at 5:59 p.m. EST. The TDRS system is a cluster of Tracking Data Relay Satellites tthat are in geosynchronous orbit. They are used to relay voice, video and datafrom NASA scientific satellites (such as the Hubble Space Telescope), the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle.

The countdown will begin at 8:49 a.m. on Friday morning. The gantry will be pulled back from around the Atlas launch vehicle at 2:26 p.m. Loading of the Liquid Oxygen aboard the Centaur stage will begin at 3:53 p.m. Atlas stage liquid oxygen loading begins at 4:19 p.m. Finally, the liquid hydrogen will be loaded aboard the Centaur stage beginning at 4:33 p.m. A 15-minute built in hold is planned to occur at the T-5 minute mark leading to launch at 5:39 p.m. EST.

TDRS NASA Fact Sheet | TDRS Space Network Home Page
Lockheed Atlas Home Page | Last Atlas Launch | Previous Launches
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Last Revised: Thursday, March 7, 2002 1:42:52 EST (J. Dumoulin)
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