KSC-02pd0113

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- -- At KSC's Shuttle Landing Facility, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-I (TDRS-I) is transported from the Shuttle Landing Facility to the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility-2 (SAEF-2). The second in a new series of telemetry satellites, TDRS-I replenishes the existing on-orbit fleet of six spacecraft. The TDRS System is the primary source of space-to-ground voice, data and telemetry for the Space Shuttle. It also provides communications with the International Space Station and scientific spacecraft in low-Earth orbit such as the Hubble Space Telescope. This new advanced series of satellites will extend the availability of TDRS communications services until about 2017. In the SAEF-2 TDRS-I will undergo processing to prepare it for launch March 8 aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIA rocket from Pad 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station