1
00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:03,330
\h        George Diller/NASA Launch Commentator: From Cape Canaveral in Florida this is

2
00:00:03,330 --> 00:00:07,860
\h        Atlas Launch Control at T-2 hours and holding.

3
00:00:07,860 --> 00:00:15,340
\h        We're now just 2 1/2 hours away from the liftoff of NASA's TDRS-K, Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

4
00:00:15,340 --> 00:00:21,770
\h        Launch is atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral.

5
00:00:21,770 --> 00:00:31,500
\h        The launch window today extends from 8:48 to 9:28 p.m. EST.

6
00:00:31,500 --> 00:00:35,320
\h        The launch window tonight is 40 minutes in duration.

7
00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:42,310
\h        This will be the 35th Atlas V rocket to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

8
00:00:42,310 --> 00:00:46,330
\h        The TDRS-K Tracking and Data Relay Satellite will relay voice,

9
00:00:46,330 --> 00:00:52,350
\h        data and telemetry communications between spacecraft and Earth orbit and ground controllers.

10
00:00:52,350 --> 00:00:58,710
\h        This includes the International Space Station, the Hubble Space Telescope and scientific satellites.

11
00:00:58,710 --> 00:01:04,320
\h        Even the Atlas rocket launching tonight with TDRS-K will be tracked using the TDRS system in orbit,

12
00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:11,420
\h        taking over from the tracking stations of the Eastern Range beginning about 6 1/2 minutes into the flight.

13
00:01:11,420 --> 00:01:15,660
\h        Ten Tracking and Data Relay Satellites have been launched since the first one launched from the

14
00:01:15,660 --> 00:01:21,070
\h        space shuttle on April 4, 1983, almost exactly 30 years ago.

15
00:01:21,070 --> 00:01:25,960
\h        The TDRS system allows almost constant space communication.

16
00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:29,560
\h        Because of the reliability and longevity of the system,

17
00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:39,400
\h        TDRS-K is the first one to be launched by NASA that the agency has needed since 2002, over 10 years ago.

18
00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:45,580
\h        The spacecraft was built for NASA by Boeing Space Systems.

19
00:01:45,580 --> 00:01:51,850
\h        So at this time we are awaiting our poll from the NASA Launch Director Tim Dunn of the

20
00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:56,410
\h        NASA launch team and that will be followed by the poll of the Atlas team to

21
00:01:56,410 --> 00:02:03,630
\h        begin tanking of the Atlas V rocket with cryogenic propellants.