View source for TDRS-1

{{Short description|American communications satellite}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name              = TDRS-1
| image             = STS-6 TDRS-A deploy preparations.jpg
| image_caption     = TDRS-1 and its IUS aboard<br/>''Challenger'' shortly before deployment.

| mission_type      = [[Communications satellite|Communication]]
| operator          = [[NASA]]
| COSPAR_ID         = 1983-026B 
| SATCAT            = 13969<ref name="satcat">{{cite web |title=SATCAT |last=McDowell |first=Jonathan |url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/satcat.txt |publisher=Jonathan's Space Pages |accessdate=18 March 2014}}</ref>
| mission_duration  = Planned: 10 years<br />Final: {{time interval|4 April 1983 18:30|21 October 2009|show=ymd|sep=,}}

| spacecraft_bus    = TDRS
| manufacturer      = [[TRW Inc.|TRW]]
| dry_mass          = 
| launch_mass       = {{convert|2268|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref name="tdrs_char">{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/services/networks/tdrs_characteristics |title=Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) Characteristics |publisher=NASA |date=10 September 2014 |accessdate=28 July 2020}}</ref>
| dimensions        = {{convert|17.4|xx|12.9|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="tdrs_char" />
| power             = 1700 watts<ref name="tdrs_char" />

| launch_date       = {{start date and age|4 April 1983, 18:30:00}}&nbsp;[[UTC]]
| launch_rocket     = {{OV|099}}<br/>[[STS-6]] / [[Inertial Upper Stage|IUS]]  
| launch_site       = [[Kennedy Space Center]], [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39|LC-39A]]
| launch_contractor = [[Rockwell International]]

| entered_service   = 
| disposal_type     = Retired to graveyard
| declared          = 21 October 2009
| deactivated       = {{end-date|27 June 2010}}

| orbit_epoch       = 1 April 1984<ref name="satcat"/>
| orbit_reference   = [[Geocentric orbit]]
| orbit_regime      = [[Geostationary orbit]]
| orbit_longitude   = 
| orbit_slot        = 
| apsis             = gee

| trans_band        = 
| trans_frequency   = 
| trans_bandwidth   = 
| trans_capacity    = 
| trans_coverage    = 
| trans_TWTA        = 
| trans_EIRP        = 
| trans_HPBW        = 
}}
'''TDRS-1''', known before launch as '''TDRS-A''', was an American [[communications satellite]], operated by [[NASA]] as part of the [[Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System]]. It was constructed by [[TRW Inc.|TRW]] and launched by {{OV|099}} on its maiden flight, [[STS-6]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/sts6.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020415043211/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/sts6.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 April 2002 |title=STS-6 |last=Wade |first=Mark |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica |accessdate=27 June 2009}}</ref>

==History==
While on the pad, problems were detected with ''[[Space Shuttle Challenger|Challenger]]'' main engines and repairs began. During this time, a severe storm contaminated TDRS-1 while it was in the Payload Change-out Room on the [[Service structure|Rotating Service Structure]] at the launch pad. The satellite had to be returned to its checkout facility, where it was cleaned and rechecked.<ref>{{cite book |last=Evans |first=Ben |title=Space Shuttle Challenger: Ten Journeys into the Unknown |url=https://archive.org/details/spaceshuttlechal00evan_850 |url-access=limited |year=2007 |publisher=Praxis Publishing |isbn=978-0-387-46355-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/spaceshuttlechal00evan_850/page/n43 26]}}</ref> ''Challenger'' finally lifted off from [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A|Launch Complex 39A]] of the [[Kennedy Space Center]] at 18:30:00 UTC on 4 April 1983.<ref name="LL">{{cite web |url=http://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt |title=Launch Log |last=McDowell |first=Jonathan |publisher=Jonathan's Space Page |accessdate=24 June 2009}}</ref>

===Operations===
Following deployment from ''Challenger'', TDRS-1 was to be raised to its operational [[geosynchronous orbit]] by means of an [[Inertial Upper Stage]] having two [[solid rocket motor]]s, the first used to raise the orbital [[apsis|apogee]], the second its [[apsis|perigee]]. The first burn was successful, but the IUS went out of control during the second burn. TDRS-1 separated from the upper stage in a lower than planned orbit. It was eventually raised to geosynchronous orbit using its [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude control system]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/tdrs-1.htm |title=TDRS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |last=Krebs |first=Gunter |publisher=Gunter's Space Page |accessdate=25 June 2009}}</ref> To achieve this, a team of engineers from the [[Goddard Space Flight Center]] in [[Greenbelt, Maryland|Greenbelt]], [[Maryland]] worked for nearly three months using six one-pound thrusters on the errant satellite to push it {{convert|8600|mi}} higher in space. The failure was later identified as a collapsed second-stage nozzle techroll seal, a flexible ring which allows the nozzle to pivot and provide directional control.<ref name="TDRS"/> The Goddard engineers' successful effort required 39 adjustment burns to correct the elliptical orbit to the {{convert|22300|mi|km|abbr=on}} geosynchronous orbit desired for TDRS-1. Goddard Space Flight Center on 26 November 1984 honored a group of 34 individuals for the rescue with the [[Robert H. Goddard Award of Merit]], the highest level of recognition the Goddard Space Flight Center can bestow on its employees.<ref name="TDRS">[http://www.llanddaniel.co.uk/tecwyn_retirement.html "Tecwyn Roberts at the Network Engineering Division"] ''llanddaniel.co.uk'' Retrieved: 5 May 2011.</ref> In 1989 satellite operations were affected by a [[March 1989 geomagnetic storm|geomagnetic storm]].<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/sun_darkness.html The Day the Sun Brought Darkness], Dr. Sten Odenwald, ''NASA'', 13 March 2009</ref>

TDRS-1 formed part of the first pole-to-pole phone call on 28 April 1999, with TDRS-1 being used at the South Pole, and an [[Iridium Communications|Iridium phone]] being used at the North Pole (recorded in [[Ripley's Believe It Or Not]] and [[Guinness World Records]] in April 1999).<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2003/apr/HP_news_03130.html "Pioneer NASA Spacecraft Celebrates 20 Years of Service"] {{PD-notice}}</ref>

===Mission duration===
TDRS-1 had a design life of ten years, but in April 2008, it remained operational on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its launch.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spacemart.com/reports/TDRS_1_Satellite_Reaches_25_Years_Of_Age_999.html |title=TDRS-1 Satellite Reaches 25 Years Of Age |date=8 April 2008 |publisher=Space Mart |accessdate=27 June 2009}}</ref> Over the years, the [[orbital inclination]] was allowed to increase so that, for portions of the day (approximately 5 hours), it could be used for communications with the [[North Pole|North]] and then the [[South Pole]]. Along with [[Marisat 2|Marisat F2]], [[GOES 3]] and [[Lincoln Experimental Satellite|LES-9]], it was one of a number of satellites that were transferred to the US [[National Science Foundation]] in 1998,<ref name="NASA">{{cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jun/10-154_TDRS_Retirement.html |title=NASA Retires First Data Relay Satellite After Stellar Career |publisher=NASA |date=25 June 2010 |accessdate=5 June 2020}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> for communications with the [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]].<ref name="SR-Marisat">{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=30091 |title=Outliving expectations: Marisat-F2 satellite held on for 32 years, served South Pole for 8 |date=12 December 2008 |publisher=Spaceref |accessdate=27 June 2009}}</ref> After Marisat was retired, TDRS-1 became the primary means of communication with the research station.<ref name="SR-Marisat"/> The last functioning [[traveling-wave tube]] amplifier aboard TDRS-1 failed in October 2009,<ref name="NASA"/> rendering the spacecraft unusable for communications.

TDRS-1 proved helpful during a 1999 medical emergency at the NSF's [[Antarctic]] [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]]. The satellite's high-speed Internet connectivity allowed personnel to conduct [[Telehealth|telemedicine]] conferences. Doctors in the United States aided [[Dr. Jerri Nielsen]], who had breast cancer, to perform a self-biopsy and administer [[chemotherapy]]. Later, in 2002, doctors used TDRS-1 to perform another telemedicine conference with the station to assist in knee surgery for a [[meteorologist]].<ref name="NASA"/>

Because of its orbit, the satellite was able to link the North and South Poles and relayed the first pole-to-pole phone call. TDRS-1 also transmitted the first internet connection and live webcast from the North Pole and supported the first global television from the South Pole Station - a worldwide television broadcast to commemorate the beginning of the year 2000.<ref name="NASA"/>

[[File:Map of TDRS.png|left|thumb|Location of TDRS as of 18 March 2019]]

===Decommissioned===
The spacecraft was retired on or about 21 October 2009, after 26 years. Decommissioning was started on 5 June 2010 and [[Passivation (spacecraft)|passivation]] completed on 27 June 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jun/10-154_TDRS_Retirement.html |title=NASA Retires First Data Relay Satellite After Stellar Career |publisher=NASA |date= |accessdate=14 January 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101208214443/https://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jun/10-154_TDRS_Retirement.html | archive-date=December 8, 2010}} {{PD-notice}}</ref> {{asof|2009}}, NASA repositioned [[TDRS-3]] to assume the duties of TDRS-1.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0910/13tdrs/ |title=NASA retires 'queen' of tracking satellite fleet |last=Clark |first=Stephen |publisher=SpaceFlightNow |accessdate=14 October 2009}}</ref>

{{clear|left}}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight}}
* [[List of TDRS satellites]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://researchandideas.com/index.php?title=NASA%27s_GRO_Remote_Terminal_System_(GRTS) NASA's TDRS-1 Remote Terminal System Installed at Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex]
* [http://researchandideas.com/index.php?title=NASA%27s_GRO_Remote_Terminal_System_(GRTS)#1995:_Antarctic_TDRS_Ground_Terminal NASA's Antarctic TDRS-1 Remote Ground Terminal Installed at McMurdo]

{{TDRS}}
{{Orbital launches in 1983}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tdrs-1}}
[[Category:Derelict satellites orbiting Earth]]
[[Category:Satellite launch anomalies]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched in 1983]]
[[Category:TDRS satellites]]
[[Category:Spacecraft launched by the Space Shuttle]]
[[Category:Spacecraft decommissioned in 2009]]