A transporter carrying the encapsulated satellite exits the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility -2.

A transporter carrying the encapsulated TDRS-J satellite exits the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility -2. The satellite is being taken to Launch Complex 36-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, for a launch aboard an Atlas IIA vehicle Dec. 4. The launch window is 9:42 to 10:22 p.m. EST. TDRS-J, the third in a series of telemetry satellites, will help replenish the current constellation of geosynchronous TDRS satellites that are the primary source of space-to-ground voice, data and telemetry for the Space Shuttle. The satellites also provide 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.