TDRS-L spacecraft lift to mate on Atlas V

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Vertical Integration Facility at Launch Complex 41, a technician uses a support line to steady NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, or TDRS-L, spacecraft as it is lifted for mounting atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The TDRS-L satellite will be a part of the second of three next-generation spacecraft 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 a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on Jan. 23, 2014. The current Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system consists of eight in-orbit satellites distributed to provide near continuous information relay contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/tdrs/home/index.html Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis