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Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System

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36: 436: 20: 203: 644: 483: 28: 1091: 119:) in the early 1960s. Consisting of parabolic dish antennas and telephone switching equipment deployed around the world, the STADAN provided space-to-ground communications for approximately 15 minutes of a 90-minute orbit period. This limited contact-period sufficed for uncrewed spacecraft, but crewed spacecraft require a much higher data collection time. 347:
satellites. Three SGLTs are located at STGT, but only two are located at WSGT. The system architects moved the remaining SGLT to Guam to provide full network support for the satellite covering the ZOE. Considered a remote part of the WSGT, the distance and location of the SGLT is transparent to network users.
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Note: while a TDRSS satellite is in the manufacturing process it is given a letter designation, but once it has successfully achieved the correct geosynchronous orbit it is referred to with a number (for example, TDRS-A during development and before on-orbit acceptance, and TDRS-1 after acceptance on
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The MOC is the focal point of spacecraft operations. It will schedule requests for support, monitor spacecraft performance and upload control information to the spacecraft (through TDRSS). MOC consists of principal investigators, mission planners and flight operators. Principal investigators initiate
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Even after consolidation, STDN had some drawbacks. Since the entire network consisted of ground stations spread around the globe, these sites were vulnerable to the political whims of the host country. In order to maintain a high-reliability rate coupled with higher data transfer speeds, NASA began a
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NISN provides the data transfer backbone for space missions. It is a cost-effect wide area network telecommunications service for transmission of data, video, and voice for all NASA enterprises, programs and centers. This part of the STDN consists of infrastructure and computers dedicated to monitor
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that is for facility staff only. NASA decided on the location of the ground terminals using very specific criteria. Foremost was the ground station's view of the satellites; the location had to be close enough to the equator to view the skies, both east and west. Weather was another important factor
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The MMFD lab provides flight project and tracking network support. Flight project support consists of orbital and attitude determination and control. Orbital parameters are traced through the actual orbit of the mission spacecraft and compared to its predicted orbit. Attitude determination computes
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The NCC provides service planning, control, assurance and accountability. Service planning takes user requests and disseminates the information to the appropriate SN elements. Service control and assurance supports functions of real-time usage, such as receipt, validation, display and dissemination
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WSGT went online with the 1983 launch of TDRS-A by the Space Shuttle Challenger. STGT became operational in 1994, completing the system after Flight-6's on-orbit checkout earlier in the year. Additionally, after completion of the second terminal, NASA held a contest to name the two stations. Local
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Almost twenty years later, on November 23, 2007, an on-line trade publication noted, "While NASA uses the (TDRSS) satellites to communicate with the space shuttle and international space station, most of their bandwidth is devoted to the Pentagon, which covers the lion's share of TDRSS operations
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TDRSS is similar to most other space systems, whereby it is composed of three segments: the ground, space and user segments. These three segments work in conjunction to accomplish the mission. An emergency or failure in any one segment could have catastrophic impact on the rest of the system. For
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After the study was completed, NASA realized that a minor system modification was needed to achieve 100% global coverage. A small area would not be within line-of-sight of any satellites – a so-called Zone of Exclusion (ZOE). With the ZOE, neither TDRS satellite could contact a spacecraft under a
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for space communications. The system was designed to replace an existing network of ground stations that had supported all of NASA's crewed flight missions. The prime design goal was to increase the time spacecraft were in communication with the ground and improve the amount of data that could be
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The space segment of the new system would rely upon satellites in geostationary orbit. These satellites, by virtue of their position, could transmit and receive data to lower orbiting satellites and still stay within sight of the ground station. The operational TDRSS constellation would use two
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The space segment of the TDRSS constellation is the most dynamic part of the system. Even with nine satellites on orbit, the system provides support with three primary satellites, while using the rest as on-orbit spares capable of immediate usage as primaries. The original TDRSS design had two
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WSGT and STGT are geographically separated and completely independent of one another, while retaining a backup fiber-optic link to transfer data between sites in case of emergency. Each ground station has 19-meter dishes, known as Space-Ground Link Terminals (SGLT), to communicate with the
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relay their observations to their respective mission control centers through TDRSS. Since crewed space flight was one of the primary reasons for building TDRSS, the space shuttle and International Space Station voice communications are routed through the system.
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As of July 2009, TDRS project manager is Jeff J. Gramling, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Robert P. Buchanan, Deputy Project Manager, retired after 41 years at NASA with TDRS as one of final missions. Boeing is responsible for the construction of TDRS K.
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certain altitude (646 nautical miles). With the addition of another satellite to cover the ZOE and ground station nearby, 100% coverage could exist. The space-based network study created a system that became the plan for the present-day TDRSS network design.
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in the mid-1970s, a requirement for a higher performance space-based communication system arose. At the end of the Apollo program, NASA realized that MSFN and STADAN had evolved to have similar capabilities and decided to merge the two networks to create the
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of TDRSS performance data. Service accountability provides accounting reports on the use of the NCC and network resources. The NCC was originally located at Goddard Space-flight Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland until 2000, when it was relocated to the WSC.
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is an extension of the WSGT. The terminal contains SGLT 6, with the Communication Service Controller (CSC) located at STGT's TDRS Operations Control Center (TOCC). Before the GRGT was operational, an auxiliary system was located at
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network traffic flow, such as fiber optic links, routers and switches. Data can flow through NISN two ways: using the Internet Protocol Operational Network (IPONET) or the High Data Rate System (HDRS). IPONET uses the
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sets of parameters that describe a spacecraft's orientation relative to known objects (Sun, Moon, stars or Earth's magnetic field). Tracking network support analyzes and evaluates the quality of the tracking data.
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and one on-orbit spare. The surge in user requirements during the 1980s allowed NASA to expand the network with the addition of more satellites, with some being co-located in a particularly busy orbital slot. See
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requests for SN support. Mission planners provide documentation for the spacecraft and its mission. And flight operators are the final link, sending commands to the spacecraft and performing the operations.
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to 48 Mbit/s, for specialized missions requiring a high rate of data transfer. HDRS does not require the infrastructure of routers, switches and gateways to send its data forward like IPONET.
238:. These three stations are the heart of the network, providing command & control services. Under a system upgrade that has been completed, a new terminal has been built at Blossom Point, Maryland. 828: 525:
In October 2008, the NRO declassified the existence of mission ground stations in the US called Aerospace Data Facility (ADF)- Colorado, ADF-East and ADF-Southwest near
402:(NISN), network control center (NCC), mission operations center (MOC), spacecraft data processing facility (SDPF), and the multi mission flight dynamics lab (MMFD). 177:(ACTS) programs prototyped many of the technologies used on TDRSS and other commercial communications satellites, including frequency division multiple-access ( 759: 410:
protocol common to all computers connected to the Internet, and is a standard way to ship data. The High Data Rate System transports data rates from 2 
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orbit and put into operational use). Thus, satellites that are lost in launch failures or have massive malfunctions are never numbered (for example,
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Consolidated Space Operations Contract (CSOC). (2000) Certification & Training Course 880 & 882: TDRSS Orientation & System Data Flow.
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for STGT. These names seem to have been for publicity purposes only, for official NASA documentation use WSGT and STGT or WSC as designators.
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Wertz, J. & Larson, W. (1999) Space Mission Analysis and Design, Third Edition. Torrance, California: Microcosm Press.
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To satisfy the requirement for long-duration, highly available space-to-ground communications, NASA created the
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Sellers, J. (2000) Understanding Space: An Introduction to Astronautics. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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The TDRSS system has been used to provide data relay services to many orbiting observatories, and also to
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Baker, D. (Ed.) (2001) Jane's Space Directory: 2001–2002. Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group.
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As early as 1989, it was reported that an important function of TDRSS was to provide data relay for the
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use TDRSS for data relay. TDRSS is also used to provide launch data relay for expendable boosters.
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The most recent generation of satellites provides ground reception rates of 6 Mbit/s in the
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Thompson, T. (1996) TRW Space Log. Redondo Beach, California: TRW Space & Electronics Group.
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The user segment of TDRSS includes many of NASA's most prominent programs. Programs such as the
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https://web.archive.org/web/20050126202052/http://nmsp.gsfc.nasa.gov/TUBE/pdf/infopack.pdf
130:(DSN), interacted with crewed spacecraft higher than 10,000 miles from Earth, such as the 80:, a two-stage solid rocket booster developed for the shuttle. Other TDRS were launched by 8: 235: 181:), three-axis spacecraft stabilization and high-performance communications technologies. 134:
missions, in addition to its primary mission of data collection from deep space probes.
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NASA. (1996) 2nd TDRSS Workshop: 25–26 Jun 1996. Retrieved from Internet 25 Aug 2003.
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A side-by-side network established right after STADAN in the early 1960s, called the
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https://web.archive.org/web/20050214060604/http://nmsp.gsfc.nasa.gov/tdrss/guam.html
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costs and is driving many of the system's requirements, some of them classified."
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NASA. (2000) Guam Remote Ground Terminal. Retrieved from Internet 25 Aug 2003.
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Kraft, C. (2002) Flight: My Life in Mission Control. New York: Plume Books.
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Space.com: Replacement Satellites Top the List of Upcoming Nasa Deals
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by way of the TDRSS South Pole Relay. The US-built sections of the
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study to augment the system with space-based communication nodes.
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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center TDRS K/L Project Official Page
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Kranz, G. (2000) Failure is Not an Option. New York: Plume Books
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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Space Network Official Page
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middle school students chose Cacique (kah-see-keh), meaning
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https://certifiedpedia.com/tracking-fox-gps-tracker-review/
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of TDRSS consists of three ground stations located at the
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Declassified Information from the NRO: accessed 01/05/11
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radar imaging reconnaissance satellites operated by the
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this reason all segments have redundancy factored in.
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Additionally, the WSC remotely controls the GRGT on
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It is also brought up in the 1997 movie 569:, and all of the satellites since then by 821: 665: – Planned communications satellites 1017:Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System 760:"Generation to Generation, A Lower Risk" 505: 481: 444:primary satellites, designated TDE, for 434: 201: 154:satellites, designated TDE and TDW (for 49:Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System 34: 26: 18: 1177:Communications satellite constellations 868:Mission Ground Station Declassification 350:The Guam Remote Ground Terminal (GRGT) 1169: 584: 396:Space Flight Tracking and Data Network 989: 571:Hughes Space and Communications, Inc. 829:"Spy Satellites: Entering a New Era" 457:for more details on the satellites. 315:Extended TDRS Ground Terminal (ETGT) 282:Second TDRSS Ground Terminal (STGT) 144:Spacecraft Tracking and Data Network 63:, TDRS) and ground stations used by 249:White Sands Ground Terminal (WSGT) 13: 1187:Communications satellite operators 928:NASA's TDRSS program overview page 663:Indian Data Relay Satellite System 218:(WSC) in southern New Mexico, the 70:Tracking and Data Relay Satellites 39:An unflown TDRS on display at the 14: 1198: 1182:Tracking and Data Relay Satellite 1028:Tracking and data relay satellite 916: 608: 500:International Space Station (ISS) 455:Tracking and Data Relay Satellite 222:Remote Ground Terminal (GRGT) at 197: 61:tracking and data relay satellite 31:Location of TDRS as of March 2019 1089: 897:Area58 Blog: Capt. K Panzenhagen 642: 430: 400:NASA Integrated Services Network 171:Application Technology Satellite 901: 890: 872: 744:Susan Hendrix (July 22, 2009). 460: 339:for WSGT, and Danzante meaning 879:Buckley AFB: Tenants Factsheet 861: 850: 800: 778: 752: 737: 705: 694: 545:; ADF-Southwest is located at 516:National Reconnaissance Office 326:The WSC has its own exit from 188: 169:As early as the 1960s, NASA's 1: 687: 552: 477: 7: 683:– Chinese data relay system 671:– Russian data relay system 635: 486:South Pole Tracking Relay-2 390:Incorporation into the STDN 232:Goddard Space Flight Center 206:Guam Remote Ground Terminal 162:), and one on-orbit spare. 124:Manned Space Flight Network 95:and 800 Mbit/s in the 41:Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center 10: 1203: 962:Tracking Fox GPS Tracker. 658:European Data Relay System 612: 106: 1150: 1124: 1098: 1087: 1041: 1023: 567:Redondo Beach, California 561:corporation (now part of 547:White Sands Missile Range 137:With the creation of the 57:communications satellites 938: 1157:denotes launch failure. 1033:List of TDRS satellites 615:List of TDRS satellites 394:The major parts of the 43:in Chantilly, Virginia. 575:El Segundo, California 565:Aerospace Systems) in 543:Fort Belvoir, Virginia 535:Las Cruces, New Mexico 487: 467:Hubble Space Telescope 440: 228:Network Control Center 207: 44: 32: 24: 675:Satellite Data System 577:, (now a part of the 506:Military applications 485: 438: 205: 38: 30: 22: 713:"TDRSS 2nd Workshop" 369:13.6148°N 144.8565°E 301:32.5430°N 106.6120°W 268:32.5007°N 106.6086°W 78:Inertial Upper Stage 76:and made use of the 585:Cultural references 494:facilities such as 365: /  297: /  264: /  236:Greenbelt, Maryland 216:White Sands Complex 884:2015-09-27 at the 650:Spaceflight portal 488: 441: 306:32.5430; -106.6120 273:32.5007; -106.6086 241:WSC, located near 208: 128:Deep Space Network 68:transferred. Many 45: 33: 25: 1164: 1163: 1099:Second generation 374:13.6148; 144.8565 23:TDRS Program Logo 1194: 1125:Third generation 1093: 1042:First generation 1010: 1003: 996: 987: 986: 910: 905: 899: 894: 888: 876: 870: 865: 859: 854: 848: 847: 845: 843: 833: 825: 819: 818: 816: 814: 804: 798: 797: 795: 793: 782: 776: 775: 773: 771: 766:on June 29, 2011 762:. Archived from 756: 750: 749: 741: 735: 734: 732: 730: 725:on July 21, 2011 724: 718:. Archived from 717: 709: 703: 698: 669:Luch (satellite) 652: 647: 646: 645: 563:Northrop Grumman 531:Washington, D.C. 527:Denver, Colorado 398:(STDN) are: the 380: 379: 377: 376: 375: 370: 366: 363: 362: 361: 358: 312: 311: 309: 308: 307: 302: 298: 295: 294: 293: 290: 279: 278: 276: 275: 274: 269: 265: 262: 261: 260: 257: 1202: 1201: 1197: 1196: 1195: 1193: 1192: 1191: 1167: 1166: 1165: 1160: 1146: 1120: 1094: 1085: 1037: 1019: 1014: 941: 919: 914: 913: 906: 902: 895: 891: 886:Wayback Machine 877: 873: 866: 862: 855: 851: 841: 839: 838:. 24 March 1989 831: 827: 826: 822: 812: 810: 806: 805: 801: 791: 789: 788:. 27 March 2012 784: 783: 779: 769: 767: 758: 757: 753: 742: 738: 728: 726: 722: 715: 711: 710: 706: 699: 695: 690: 648: 643: 641: 638: 617: 611: 587: 555: 508: 496:McMurdo Station 480: 463: 448:, and TDW, for 439:TDRSS satellite 433: 392: 373: 371: 367: 364: 359: 356: 354: 352: 351: 305: 303: 299: 296: 291: 288: 286: 284: 283: 272: 270: 266: 263: 258: 255: 253: 251: 250: 200: 191: 109: 59:(each called a 17: 12: 11: 5: 1200: 1190: 1189: 1184: 1179: 1162: 1161: 1159: 1158: 1151: 1148: 1147: 1145: 1144: 1139: 1134: 1128: 1126: 1122: 1121: 1119: 1118: 1113: 1108: 1102: 1100: 1096: 1095: 1088: 1086: 1084: 1083: 1078: 1073: 1068: 1063: 1058: 1051: 1045: 1043: 1039: 1038: 1036: 1035: 1030: 1024: 1021: 1020: 1013: 1012: 1005: 998: 990: 984: 983: 980: 977: 974: 967: 966: 960: 954: 951: 948: 945: 940: 937: 936: 935: 930: 925: 918: 917:External links 915: 912: 911: 900: 889: 871: 860: 849: 820: 799: 777: 751: 736: 704: 692: 691: 689: 686: 685: 684: 678: 672: 666: 660: 654: 653: 637: 634: 626:Space Shuttle 610: 609:Launch history 607: 586: 583: 581:corporation). 554: 551: 507: 504: 479: 476: 462: 459: 432: 429: 391: 388: 317: 316: 313: 280: 212:ground segment 199: 198:Ground segment 196: 190: 187: 108: 105: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 1199: 1188: 1185: 1183: 1180: 1178: 1175: 1174: 1172: 1156: 1153: 1152: 1149: 1143: 1140: 1138: 1135: 1133: 1130: 1129: 1127: 1123: 1117: 1114: 1112: 1109: 1107: 1104: 1103: 1101: 1097: 1092: 1082: 1079: 1077: 1074: 1072: 1069: 1067: 1064: 1062: 1059: 1057: 1056: 1052: 1050: 1047: 1046: 1044: 1040: 1034: 1031: 1029: 1026: 1025: 1022: 1018: 1011: 1006: 1004: 999: 997: 992: 991: 988: 981: 978: 975: 973: 969: 968: 965: 961: 959: 955: 952: 949: 946: 943: 942: 934: 931: 929: 926: 924: 921: 920: 909: 904: 898: 893: 887: 883: 880: 875: 869: 864: 858: 853: 837: 830: 824: 809: 803: 787: 781: 765: 761: 755: 747: 740: 721: 714: 708: 702: 697: 693: 682: 679: 676: 673: 670: 667: 664: 661: 659: 656: 655: 651: 640: 633: 631: 629: 623: 616: 606: 604: 603: 602:Event Horizon 598: 597: 592: 582: 580: 576: 572: 568: 564: 560: 550: 548: 544: 540: 536: 532: 528: 523: 519: 517: 513: 503: 501: 497: 493: 484: 475: 472: 468: 458: 456: 451: 447: 437: 431:Space segment 428: 424: 420: 416: 413: 409: 403: 401: 397: 387: 385: 378: 348: 344: 342: 338: 332: 329: 328:U.S. Route 70 324: 322: 314: 310: 281: 277: 248: 247: 246: 245:consists of: 244: 239: 237: 233: 229: 225: 221: 217: 213: 204: 195: 186: 182: 180: 176: 172: 167: 163: 161: 157: 151: 147: 145: 140: 139:Space Shuttle 135: 133: 129: 125: 120: 118: 114: 104: 102: 98: 94: 89: 87: 83: 79: 75: 74:Space Shuttle 71: 66: 62: 58: 54: 50: 42: 37: 29: 21: 1154: 1053: 1016: 903: 892: 874: 863: 852: 840:. Retrieved 835: 823: 811:. Retrieved 802: 790:. Retrieved 780: 770:December 22, 768:. Retrieved 764:the original 754: 739: 729:December 22, 727:. Retrieved 720:the original 707: 696: 627: 618: 600: 594: 588: 556: 524: 520: 509: 489: 464: 461:User segment 449: 445: 442: 425: 421: 417: 404: 393: 384:Diego Garcia 349: 345: 340: 336: 333: 325: 318: 240: 209: 192: 183: 168: 164: 159: 155: 152: 148: 136: 121: 110: 90: 52: 48: 46: 813:October 25, 792:October 25, 539:Buckley AFB 372: / 360:144°51′23″E 304: / 292:106°36′43″W 271: / 259:106°36′31″W 230:located at 189:The network 1171:Categories 688:References 628:Challenger 613:See also: 591:James Bond 553:Production 541:, CO and 478:Operations 357:13°36′53″N 289:32°32′35″N 256:32°30′03″N 243:Las Cruces 173:(ATS) and 596:Moonraker 492:Antarctic 88:rockets. 82:Atlas IIa 47:The U.S. 882:Archived 681:Tianlian 636:See also 630:disaster 512:Lacrosse 146:(STDN). 101:Ka-bands 1155:Italics 1142:TDRS-13 1137:TDRS-12 1132:TDRS-11 1116:TDRS-10 842:20 July 836:Science 593:movie, 471:LANDSAT 107:Origins 86:Atlas V 1111:TDRS-9 1106:TDRS-8 1081:TDRS-7 1076:TDRS-6 1071:TDRS-5 1066:TDRS-4 1061:TDRS-3 1055:TDRS-B 1049:TDRS-1 622:TDRS-B 579:Boeing 533:, and 412:Mbit/s 408:TCP/IP 341:dancer 337:leader 226:, and 132:Apollo 117:STADAN 93:S-band 939:Notes 832:(PDF) 723:(PDF) 716:(PDF) 573:, in 53:TDRSS 844:2013 815:2012 794:2012 772:2010 731:2010 469:and 450:west 446:east 321:Guam 220:Guam 210:The 179:FDMA 160:west 158:and 156:east 99:and 84:and 65:NASA 632:). 559:TRW 234:in 97:Ku- 1173:: 834:. 605:. 529:, 518:. 386:. 323:. 1009:e 1002:t 995:v 846:. 817:. 796:. 774:. 748:. 733:. 115:( 51:(

Index




Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
communications satellites
tracking and data relay satellite
NASA
Tracking and Data Relay Satellites
Space Shuttle
Inertial Upper Stage
Atlas IIa
Atlas V
S-band
Ku-
Ka-bands
Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network
STADAN
Manned Space Flight Network
Deep Space Network
Apollo
Space Shuttle
Spacecraft Tracking and Data Network
Application Technology Satellite
Advanced Communications Technology Satellite
FDMA

ground segment
White Sands Complex
Guam
Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Guam

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