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Dave Littmann, the TDRS Project Manager, here
at Goddard Space Flight Center

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responsible for the development of the
TDRS satellites.  I've been with

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TDRS, this program TDRS K, L, M, for
about ten years.

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It was put together in 2000, started 2006,
I joined 2007 and I've been with the project,

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this project, ever since. There's like a
lot of things that I could think that

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are amazing about TDRS just from what
it does in terms of how it provides

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communication from deep within the,
within the, within the universe to kind

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of take data back from the Hubble Space
Telescope and relay it back here to Earth for

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us to appreciate as well as to what it
does with communicating with our

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orbiting astronauts today. The project
was born, born here out of Goddard during

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the Apollo days the communication with
missions as well, as well as humans

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where were done with ground stations as
the vehicles orbited the Earth and you

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only had so many minutes before the
vehicle was out of, out of touch and so

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there was a vision that if we put the
capability of a ground station of ground

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capability and space to communicate with
that it could see a much wider time in

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terms of coverage for, for the missions
and we wouldn't have to kind of populate

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the Earth with all the ground stations.
The TDRS team, it's kind of amazing, I

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mean it, the whole project, you know, was
started back in the early 80's. This will

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be the 12th to 13th satellite, you
know, that now we will have launched. 

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The team varies in terms of the length
of time they've had on TDRS but it,

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it grows to be a family. They're
committed, and they're dedicated, passionate you know

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they're really amazing. I guess, you know,
if you're going to sum it up in one word

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maybe phenomenal. I think phenomenal would work,
yeah, that, that probably is a good one.

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TDRS-M is ready. The entire team is
ready. It's on track, it's yeah, we're ready to

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rock.

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Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep