TRDS-K Launch Successful The new NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K (TRDS-K) was successfully launched on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral on January 30. The satellite will upgrade the space communication network, helping NASA and other agencies to maintain contact with orbiting spacecraft. TDRS-K will join five other satellites that currently form the space segment of the [...]
Post Tagged with: “Tracking”
TDRS-K, Boosting Communications in Space
On December 18, NASA’s newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-K), arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida aboard a military aircraft from Los Angeles, in preparation for a January 29 launch. “This launch will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA’s scientific discoveries,” says Jeffrey Gramling, project manager for [...]
European Industry Develops Space Safety Radar
Source: ESA ESA will boost European industrial expertise by developing a new radar as part of the Agency’s Space Situational Awareness programme. The radar will test future debris monitoring techniques, helping European satellite operators avoid space hazards and increase safety in Earth orbit. ESA and France’s ONERA – Office National d’Etudes et Recherches Aérospatiales – research centre have signed [...]
ROSAT reentered atmosphere over Bay of Bengal
Accordint to German space agency DLR and its partners, including NASA, the Roentgen Satellite (ROSAT) reentered the atmosphere over the Bay of Bengal on 23 October 2011 at 03:50 CEST. It is not yet known whether any part of the satellite has reached the ground. Determination of the time and location of re-entry was based on the evaluation of data provided by international partners, [...]
Update: Final View of ROSAT From The Ground
October 19 update: In the picture below, a special false-color processing to increase certain contrasts. Note the visible shadow of the main body (the actual telescope) on the solar panels, seen from an angle as the satellite passed 51.4 degrees. The shift is cleary visible. A very difficult observation on this small object, even at that distance. ——- I have been actively trying to [...]
