Atlas 5 puts science-relay satellite into orbit for NASA

Advancing from the days of ground stations providing sporadic coverage of man's early exploits in space to the creation of an orbiting satellite network for constant communications, the third generation of NASA's tracking stations in the sky roared off the launch pad Wednesday night. A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, capping its quickest pre-flight processing flow to date, fired into the nighttime sky from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 at 8:48 p.m. EST (0148 GMT). More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 31)