The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is a ground station that is located in Australia at Tidbinbilla in a valley of the Murrumbidgee River, about half an hour's drive out of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. An earth station or ground station is the surface-based (terrestrial end of a Communications link to an object in Outer space. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Murrumbidgee River is a major river in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT Canberra ( is the capital city of Australia With a population of over 340000 it is Australia's largest inland City. } The Australian Capital Territory (ACT is the Capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and its smallest self-governing internal territory The complex is part of the Deep Space Network run by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is an international network of communication facilities that supports Interplanetary Spacecraft missions and The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program It is commonly referred to as the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station and was officially opened on 19 March 1965 by the then Prime Minister of Australia Sir Robert Menzies. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. This article is about the government position For other uses see Prime Minister (disambiguation. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, QC (20 December 1894 - 15 May 1978 Australian politician was the twelfth person to serve
The station is separated from Canberra by the Murrumbidgee River, but most notably by the Coolamon Ridge and Urambi Hills that help shield the city's radio frequency (RF) noise from the dishes. Radio frequency ( RF) is a Frequency or rate of Oscillation within the range of about 3 Hz to 300 GHz Located nearby is the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve, on the fringe of Namadgi National Park, is a short drive from the city of Canberra Australia.
The CSIRO manages most of NASA's activities in Australia. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation ( CSIRO) is the national government body for scientific research in Australia. Since March 2003, Raytheon Australia has managed the CDSCC on behalf of the CSIRO and NASA. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Raytheon Company ( is a major American Defense contractor and industrial corporation with core Manufacturing concentrations in Defense systems
The complex is one of just three in the world. The other two are the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex located in Spain and the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in the United States. The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex ( MDSCC) is a Ground station located in Robledo de Chavela, Spain and operated by Ingenieria y Servicios Aeroespaciales Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex ( GDSCC) &mdashcommonly called the Goldstone Observatory &mdash is located in California 's Mojave Desert The United States of America —commonly referred to as the
History
During the mid 1960s NASA built three tracking stations in the Australian Capital Territory. An earth station or ground station is the surface-based (terrestrial end of a Communications link to an object in Outer space.
- The Tidbinbilla Tracking Station (now known as CDSCC) was opened in 1965 and is the only NASA tracking station in Australia still in operation. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. During the Apollo program, Tidbinbilla was used for tracking the Apollo Lunar Module.
- The Orroral Valley Tracking Station was opened in May 1965 in what is now part of Namadgi National Park. The Orroral Valley tracking station ( supported Earth-orbiting satellites as part of NASA's Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network ( STADAN) Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Namadgi National Park is located in the southwestern part of the Australian Capital Territory, bordering Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. Its role was orbiting satellite support, although it also supported the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It was closed in 1985. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar)
- Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station opened in 1967 and was built primarily to support the Apollo moon missions, mainly communications with the Apollo Command Module. Honeysuckle Creek was a NASA Tracking station near Canberra, Australia, which played an important role in supporting Project Apollo Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. After the cancellation of the Apollo Project the station supported Skylab until its re-entry in 1979 when the station joined the Deep Space Network in support of the Viking and Voyager projects. Skylab was the first Space station the United States launched into orbit and the second space station ever visited by a human crew Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is an international network of communication facilities that supports Interplanetary Spacecraft missions and 1981 saw the closure of the station and its 26 m antenna was moved to CDSCC to become known as Deep Space Station 46. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International
Receivers
As of October 2005 the Station has four large antennas in use. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The CDSCC also uses the Parkes radio telescope in central New South Wales at busy times to receive data from spacecraft. The Parkes Observatory is a Radio telescope observatory 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. A spacecraft is a Vehicle or machine designed for Spaceflight.
- DSS-34 is a 34 m dish utilising a wave guide to place the receiving and transmitting hardware underground rather than on top of the dish. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International It is the most recent antenna at CDSCC, being built in 1997. Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar
- DSS-43 is a 70 m dish constructed in 1976 and extended in 1987. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) It is the largest steerable parabolic antenna in the Southern Hemisphere. The parabolic antenna is a high-gain reflector antenna used for radio television and data communications and also for radiolocation ( RADAR) on the UHF and Southern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is South of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball'
- DSS-45 is a 34 m dish built in 1986. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar)
- DSS-46 is a 26 m dish. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International It was moved in 1981 from Honeysuckle Creek, where it was built in 1967. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar.
- DSS-49 is the designation of the 64 m dish at Parkes. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International
The station's collimation tower is located approximately 3 km to the north-west, on Black Hill. Collimated light is Light whose rays are nearly parallel and therefore will spread slowly as it propagates The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International
External links
- Official CDSCC Webpage
- Official CSIRO pages
- Tidbinbilla Tracking Station tribute site
- Satellite images : WikiMapia, GoogleMaps
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