TDRS-4
NASA communications satellite, operated 1989–2011.
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TDRS-4, designated TDRS-D before launch, was an American communications satellite operated by NASA as part of the first generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System. It was built by TRW on a custom satellite bus used for all seven first generation TDRS satellites. The spacecraft provided communications services from 1989 until 2011.
History
TDRS-4 began its journey as TDRS-D, launched aboard the space shuttle Discovery during mission STS-29 in 1989. Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39B at 14:57 UTC on 13 March. The satellite was released from the shuttle a few hours later and boosted to geostationary orbit using a two-stage solid-fuel Inertial Upper Stage. The first stage fired right after deployment, sending it into a geostationary transfer orbit.
The second stage ignited at apogee on 14 March at 03:30 UTC, inserting the satellite into its final orbit. At that point it was renamed TDRS-4 and positioned at 41.0 degrees West longitude. It provided communications for spacecraft in Earth orbit, including the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. In 2005 it moved to 46.0 degrees West.
After completing its planned mission in December 2011, TDRS-4 was raised to a graveyard orbit 350 kilometers above the geostationary belt, following international guidelines. NASA confirmed the successful orbit-raising maneuver in May 2012, and the satellite was retired.
More in Spacecraft Launched by the Space Shuttle
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: TDRS-4 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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