An unmanned rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday to put the newest member of NASA's space communications network into orbit.
The
19-story tall Atlas 5 rocket, built and launched by United Launch
Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, lifted
off at 9:33 p.m. EST (0233 GMT Friday).
With
the 3.8-ton (3,447-kg) Boeing-built Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
perched on its nose, the rocket blazed through clear, star-filled skies
as it headed southeast over the Atlantic Ocean toward orbit.
The
satellite, called TDRS, is the 12th built for a NASA constellation that
circles more than 22,300 miles above Earth. The satellites are
strategically positioned over the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans
where they can continuously track and communicate with the space station
and dozens of other fast-moving spacecraft some 22,000 miles below.
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