this is really a pretty satellite so
this is how the world saw the deployment
of the tdrs or tracking and data relay
satellite during the most recent mission
of discovery
there you see it very smooth separation
we heard
nothing and felt nothing in the cabin
when that separated what most people
didn't realize was that the bottom half
of this satellite assembly the lighter
colored area is a space transfer vehicle
called the inertial upper stage or ius
now nasa is gearing up to use this ius
to help launch another tdrs satellite
during the next shuttle flight and
they're aiming for a carbon copy of that
previous mission i would like to see it
just like that again that was just
letter perfect parker counts oversees
the upper stage projects office at the
marshall space flight center
he explains that the ius was developed
by the air force for use aboard the
shuttle and expendable launch vehicles
marshall center officials purchased the
transfer vehicle from the air force for
use aboard nasa missions it bridges an
important orbital gap between the
altitude of the shuttle and what you
might call the parking orbit for
satellites that's nearly 150 times
higher roughly we're looking at an orbit
of
160 miles where we start with the
shuttle
then we take it uh from there with a
two-stage inertial upper stage to 22 300
miles that's what we call the
geostationary orbit where that orbit is
in sync with the rotation of the earth
that's important because it means that
satellite dishes on the earth can remain
pointed in one direction
but the ius is powerful enough to do
much more than just boost satellites
the shuttle mission after next for
example will use an ius to send the
unmanned magellan space probe on its
journey to map the surface of venus
at least two other planetary probes will
also be propelled by ius vehicles
later this year galileo is slated to
begin a mission to explore jupiter
ulysses is scheduled to begin a voyage
to the sun about a year later
as nasa continues to probe the frontiers
of space the inertial upper stage
remains a powerful way to extend our
reach
at the marshall space flight center this
is mike arrington reporting
roughly we're looking at um an orbit of
uh 160 miles where we start with the
shuttle
then we take it uh from there with a
two-stage uh inertial upper stage to 22
300 miles that's what we call the
geostationary orbit where that orbit is
in sync with the rotation of the earth
and we were able to do that with a very
good accuracy last mission
great
this is really a pretty satellite so
really some gorgeous views out the
window
through the deployment
and i hope we captured a lot of that on
film
there you see it uh very smooth
separation
we heard
nothing and felt nothing in the cabin
when that separated
it looks great mike
you