Jun 29 1983
From The Space Library
NASA said that TDRS-1 had achieved geosynchronous orbit at 67°W at 12:31 p.m. EDT. By 7:41 p.m. EDT, the communications satellite was stabilized in a normal Earth-oriented mode, with momentum wheels and Earth sensors controlling it for the first time. The White Sands ground station was activating the payload.
The press said that NASA's $100 million rescue mission had put TDRS into proper stationary orbit on the equator over Brazil, two months after the 5,000-pound communications satellite went off course when a second-stage thruster misfired after launch from the Challenger in April. The 39th firing of thruster jets moved TDRS into an orbit parallel to Earth's rotation and at the same speed, keeping it in the same position above Earth. Saving the satellite meant that Spacelab, due to fly in September on STS-9, could proceed as. planned. Also, the Landsat now in orbit could send its images to Earth through TDRS, and all future Shuttle flights could keep in touch with Earth 85% of the time instead of the present 20%.
An adjacent story in the Washington Post said that the House had approved and sent to President Reagan for signature a compromise bill authorizing NASA to spend $7.3 billion in FY84, slightly more than the president's re-quest, but approval was expected. (NASA Dly Actv Rpt, July 1/83; W Post, June 30/83, A-3)
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