# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/jfQ5W_IaA8
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/11739649-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/2c769cc2ec.jpg
- **Posted:** 2014-01-22T22:49:55.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

1 Day until the launch of the next element in the communications network that links NASA's ground controllers to orbiting spacecraft. TDRS-L will become the 11th member of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System orbiting Earth following its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Liftoff is scheduled for Jan. 23 during a launch window that opens at 9:05 p.m. EST. 
The constellation of satellites orbiting Earth at 22,300 miles revolutionized communications for the nation's space agency by allowing nearly continuous transmission of information during a mission. Before the TDRS network was established, NASA relied on a patchwork of ground stations based around the world to stitch together coverage zones. Astronauts and Earth-orbiting scientific spacecraft would relay messages only when they passed over or near one of the ground stations. 
The TDRS-L will ride into space on an Atlas V booster and Centaur upper stage, a combination that has become a workhorse for the agency's recent missions. The Centaur, which takes over after the Atlas V booster's stage has exhausted its fuel, will place the TDRS on a path to reach its 22,300-mi 
Image credit: NASA 
#roadsign #countdown #321launch #launch #tdrs #nasa #nasakennedy #centaur #atlasv #mars #sign #streetsign #ula #space

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 17,074
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- **Comments:** 100

## Tags

321launch, centaur, atlasv, countdown, sign, roadsign, tdrs, nasakennedy, nasa, ula, streetsign, launch, space, mars

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