CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA. An Atlas V/Centaur rocket carrying a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite successfully lifted off at 8:48 p.m., lighting up the evening sky over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The payload, dubbed TDRS-K is the 11th in a series of NASA communications satellites that provide a constant data flow between government satellites in low earth orbit and their operational ground units. The satellite was successfully separated from its booster about 1 hour, 46 minutes after launch.
The bright flame trail of a Jan. 30 Atlas V launch illuminates NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (NASA/Tony Gray photo)
- An Atlas V carrying the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K streaks past Cape Canaveral Lighthouse during a Jan. 30 evening launch. (NASA/Rick Wetherington photo)
