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PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. – Following arrival of the United Launch Alliance barge, Delta Mariner, at Port Canaveral, Fla. engineers and technicians prepare to offload the Atlas V launch vehicle that will boost the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft into orbit around the Earth. The rocket's first-stage booster and Centaur upper stage will be transported to the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for checkout in preparation for launch. TDRS-L is the second of three next-generation satellites designed to ensure vital operational continuity for the NASA Space Network. It is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41 atop an Atlas V rocket in January 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay service to missions such as the Hubble Space Telescope and International Space Station. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/content/tracking-and-data-relay-satellite-tdrs/ Photo credit: NASA/ Kim Shiflett