Tag: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)

NASA to Embrace Commercial Sector, Fly Out Legacy Relay Fleet 

NeRD

4 Min Read NASA to Embrace Commercial Sector, Fly Out Legacy Relay Fleet  An artist's concept of commercial and NASA space relays. Credits: NASA/Morgan Johnson NASA is one step closer on its transition to using commercially owned and operated satellite communications services to provide future near-Earth space missions with increased service coverage, availability, and accelerated science and data delivery.      As of Friday, Nov. 8, the agency’s legacy TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) system, as part of the Near Space Network, will support only existing missions while new missions will…

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How NASA Astronauts Vote from Space Aboard International Space Station 

NeRD

3 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The American flag inside the cupola of the International Space Station (Credits: NASA). Credit: NASA NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station have the opportunity to vote in general elections through absentee ballots or early voting in coordination with the county clerk’s office where they live.   So, how is voting from space possible? Through NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Program.  Similar to most data transmitted between the space station and the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space…

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