CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Plumes of exhaust and smoke billow around the lightning masts on Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida as a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket lifts off at 8:48 p.m. EST, carrying NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K, TDRS-K, to orbit. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_tdrs_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Scott Neener and Cory Huston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is illuminated by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket as it lifts off at 8:48 p.m. EST, carrying NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K, TDRS-K, to orbit. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_tdrs_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Scott Neener and Cory Huston

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-K, TDRS-K, lights up the night sky as it begins its journey to orbit atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket at 8:48 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_mission_pages_tdrs_index.html. Photo credit: NASA_Scott Neener and Cory Huston