home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Space & Astronomy
/
Space and Astronomy (October 1993).iso
/
mac
/
TEXT_ZIP
/
jplnews
/
1210.ZIP
/
1210.PR
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-05-03
|
2KB
|
97 lines
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. PHONE (818) 354-5011
The Deep Space Network, operated for NASA by the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, will provide tracking support for
the STS-26 flight of the space shuttle Discovery and for the
deployment and on-orbit checkout of Discovery's payload, the
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-C (TDRS-C).
Shuttle support will be provided by the 26-meter
antennas at Goldstone, Calif.; near Canberra, Australia; and
near Madrid, Spain. The Goldstone 26-meter antenna will
provide prime support for the shuttle launch and landing
phases of the mission.
The DSN 26-meter antennas will track Discovery
during the launch sequence. Current flight plans call for
Discovery's crew to open the shuttle's payload bay doors on
the second orbit, and then transmit the information on
TDRS-C's tape recorder to Earth.
The 26-meter DSN antenna at Goldstone will receive
the data, and then concentrate on the TDRS-C spacecraft's
radio-frequency checks, beginning with orbit 3. If TDRS-C is
in good condition, it will be deployed from the shuttle's
cargo bay on orbit 5.
Ignition of the IUS solid-rocket motor will take
place on orbit 6. Other NASA antennas will then track the
shuttle and the DSN will track TDRS-C and its inertial upper
stage as they reach geosynchronous orbit.
(Geosynchronous orbit is at 22,300 miles altitude,
where the spacecraft makes one orbit of Earth in 24 hours.
TDRS-C will then appear to be stationary over the same spot
on Earth. The exact location of TDRS-C will be determined
after its on-orbit checkout is complete.)
The DSN will continue to track TDRS-C until four
days into the shuttle flight, when it will return to
tracking Discovery for the remainder of the flight and the
landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
After Discovery has landed, the DSN antennas will
once again track TDRS-C.
TDRS-C is an advanced communications satellite.
The first TDRS was launched from the space shuttle in April
1983. The second was lost in the explosion of the Challenger
in January 1986.
#####
9/13/88 DB
#1210