Tomorrow on NASA TV at 5:39pm EST, 2:39pm PST they will be showing the launch of TDRS I.
I was watching the pre-launch news conference this morning, and the Boeing rep. was talking about the problem they have on the TDRS H, which was launched in 2000. Something about a receive antenna didn't deploy properly. They have yet to put H in service, but said they would do it at the end of March. One reporter wanted the Boeing rep. to talk about the problem but he said he couldn't talk about it because it was proprietary information.
:-) There was a woman reporter there who kept asking how much the TDRS
System was costing, and how much would be lost if this launch failed. They
were trying to explain it to her but she just kept asking. It seemed like she
was just trying to embarrass them, implying it was all a waste of money. Other reporters kept asking if it was going to be used by the military. Well Duh! I remember the original TDRSs built by TRW were delayed because they had problems with an encoder/decoder that the military wanted to keep their communications from being compromised. Of course it will be used by the military. What's wrong with that! The people putting on the news conference refused to even talk about that. Obviously orders from the pentagon.
TDRS I
