Citizendia

Deep Space Network
OrganizationInterplanetary Network Directorate
Coordinates
Website
http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/
Telescopes
Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complexnear Barstow, California
Robledo de Chavelanear Madrid, Spain
Canberra Deep Space Communications Complexnear Canberra, Australia
DSN logo
DSN logo

The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is an international network of communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex ( GDSCC) &mdashcommonly called the Goldstone Observatory &mdash is located in California 's Mojave Desert The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex ( MDSCC) is a Ground station located in Robledo de Chavela, Spain and operated by Ingenieria y Servicios Aeroespaciales The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC is a Ground station that is located in Australia at Tidbinbilla in a valley of the Murrumbidgee A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is A spacecraft is a Vehicle or machine designed for Spaceflight. Radio astronomy is a subfield of Astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. Radar Astronomy is a technique of observing nearby astronomical objects by reflecting Microwaves off target objects and analyzing the echoes The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. The Universe is defined as everything that Physically Exists: the entirety of Space and Time, all forms of Matter, Energy It is best known for its large radio antennas. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 DSN is part of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program

Contents

History

The forerunner of the DSN was established in January, 1958, when JPL, then under contract to the U. S. Army, deployed portable radio tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California to receive telemetry and plot the orbit of the Army-launched Explorer 1, the first successful U. Nigeria, officially named the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal Constitutional republic comprising thirty-six states and one Federal Singapore Explorer 1 (officially titled at NASA as satellite 1958 Alpha) was the first Earth Satellite of the United States, launched on February 1 S. satellite. [1] NASA was officially established on October 1, 1958, to consolidate the separately developing space-exploration programs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force into one civilian organization[2]. Events 331 BC - Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of Gaugamela. Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

On 3 December 1958, the JPL was transferred from the Army to NASA and given responsibility for the design and execution of lunar and planetary exploration programs using remotely-controlled spacecraft. The Deep Space Network (DSN) also provided the communications and tracking for all of the manned Apollo missions to the Moon.

Shortly after the transfer of the JPL to NASA, NASA established the concept of the Deep Space Network as a separately managed and operated communications system that would accommodate all deep space missions, thereby avoiding the need for each flight project to acquire and operate its own specialized space communications network. The DSN was given responsibility for its own research, development, and operation in support of all of its users. Under this concept, it has become a world leader in the development of low-noise receivers; large parabolic-dish antennas; tracking, telemetry, and command systems; digital signal processing; and deep space navigation.

The largest antennas of the DSN are often called on during spacecraft emergencies. Almost all spacecraft are designed so normal operation can be conducted on the smaller (and more economical) antennas of the DSN, but during an emergency the use of the largest antennas is crucial. This is because a troubled spacecraft may be forced to use less than its normal transmitter power, attitude control problems may preclude the use of high-gain antennas, and recovering every bit of telemetry is critical to assessing the health of the spacecraft and planning the recovery. The attitude of a body is its orientation as perceived in a certain Frame of reference; providing a vector along which a spacecraft is pointing is a description of its attitude The high-gain antenna (HGA is an antenna with a focused narrow radiowave beam width Telemetry (synonymous with Telematics) is a Technology that allows the remote measurement and reporting of Information of interest to the system designer The most famous example is the Apollo 13 mission, where limited battery power and inability to use the spacecraft's high gain antennas reduced signal levels below the capability of the Apollo Network, and the use of the biggest DSN antennas (and the Australian Parkes Observatory radio telescope) was critical to saving the lives of the astronauts. The Parkes Observatory is a Radio telescope observatory 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. Although in this case Apollo was also a USA/NASA mission, DSN also provides this same emergency service to other space agencies as well, in a spirit of inter-agency and international cooperation. For example, the recovery of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) would not have been possible without the use of the largest DSN facilities. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory ( SOHO) is a Spacecraft that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on December The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory ( SOHO) is a Spacecraft that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on December The European Space Agency ( ESA) established in 1975 is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 17 member

General information

Deep Space Network Operations Center
Deep Space Network Operations Center

DSN currently consists of three deep-space communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the world[3]. They are:

Each facility is situated in semi-mountainous, bowl-shaped terrain to shield against radio frequency interference. This strategic placement permits constant observation of spacecraft as the Earth rotates, and helps to make the DSN the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.

NASA's scientific investigation of the Solar System is being accomplished mainly through the use of unmanned spacecraft. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program A robotic spacecraft is a Spacecraft with no humans on board that is usually under Telerobotic control The DSN provides the vital two-way communications link that guides and controls these planetary explorers, and brings back the images and new scientific information they collect. All DSN antennas are steerable, high-gain, parabolic reflector antennas. In Mathematics, the parabola (pəˈræbələ from the Greek παραβολή) is a Conic section, the intersection of a right circular

The antennas and data delivery systems make it possible to:

The network is a facility of the JPL and is managed and operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, Coeducational research university located in Pasadena The Interplanetary Network Directorate (IND) manages the program within JPL. The Interplanetary Network Directorate (IND is the branch of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL charged with the development and operation of NASA 's Deep

Antennas

70m antenna at Goldstone
70m antenna at Goldstone

Each complex consists of at least four deep space terminals equipped with ultra-sensitive receiving systems and large parabolic-dish antennas. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex ( GDSCC) &mdashcommonly called the Goldstone Observatory &mdash is located in California 's Mojave Desert There are:

Five of the 34-meter beam waveguide antennas were added to the system in the late 1990s. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999 Three were located at Goldstone, and one each at Canberra and Madrid. A second 34-meter beam waveguide antenna (the network's sixth) was completed at the Madrid complex in 2004. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "

The ability to array several antennas was incorporated to improve the data returned from the Voyager 2 Neptune encounter, and extensively used for the Galileo spacecraft, when the high gain antenna did not deploy correctly[4]. Galileo was an Unmanned spacecraft sent by NASA to study the Planet Jupiter and its moons Named after the Astronomer The array electronically links the 70-meter dish antenna at the Deep Space Network complex in Goldstone, California, with an identical antenna located in Australia, in addition to two 34-meter (111-foot) antennas at the Canberra complex. The California and Australia sites were used concurrently to pick up communications with Galileo.

Arraying of antennas within the three DSN locations is also used. For example, a 70-meter dish antenna can be arrayed with a 34-meter dish. For especially-vital missions, like Voyager 2, the Canberra 70-meter dish can be arrayed with the Parkes Radio Telescope in Australia; and the Goldstone 70-meter dish can be arrayed with the Very Large Array of antennas in New Mexico. The Very Large Array ( VLA) is a Radio astronomy Observatory located on the Plains of San Augustin, between the towns of Magdalena Also, two or more 34-meter dishes at one DSN location are commonly arrayed together.

All the stations are remotely operated from a centralized Signal Processing Center at each complex. These Centers house the electronic subsystems that point and control the antennas, receive and process the telemetry data, transmit commands, and generate the spacecraft navigation data.

Once the data is processed at the complexes, it is transmitted to JPL for further processing and for distribution to science teams over a modern communications network, frequently using satellite communications.

Network limitations and challenges

70m antenna in Madrid, Spain
70m antenna in Madrid, Spain

There are a number of limitations to the current DSN, and a number of challenges going forward. Madrid (pronounced in English in Spanish and colloquially in Spain) is the Capital and largest city of Spain. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

See also

Extended NASA missions

Notes

  1. Ulysses' mission has been extended until March 2009. Ulysses is a robotic Space probe designed to study the Sun at all latitudes NASA 's Mars Exploration Rover ( MER) Mission is an ongoing robotic mission of exploring Mars, that began in 2003 with the sending of See also Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. The Voyager program consists of a pair of unmanned scientific probes Voyager 1 and The Voyager 1 spacecraft is a 722-kilogram robotic Space probe of the outer Solar system and beyond launched September 5, Voyager 2 is an unmanned Interplanetary Spacecraft launched on August 20, 1977. The craft will continue operating while flying over the Sun's poles for the third time sometime in 2007-2008. At some point in time the craft's RTG will not provide enough power to operate the craft's science instruments. Current orbital parameters will keep the hydrazine fuel from freezing.
  2. The two Voyager spacecraft continue to operate, with some loss in subsystem redundancy, but retain the capability of returning science data from a full complement of VIM science instruments. Both spacecraft also have adequate electrical power and attitude control propellant to continue operating until around 2020, when the available electrical power will no longer support science instrument operation. At this time, science data return and spacecraft operations will cease.

Related Sources and Topics

References

  1. ^ Uplink-Downlink: A History of the Deep Space Network, 1957-1997 (NASA SP-2001-4227), page 5
  2. ^ NASA (2005). The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC operates a number of ground-based space-tracking stations for the European Space Agency (ESA known as the European Space Tracking A B C D E F G H I J This is a list of Radio telescopes that are or have been used for Radio astronomy. The National Aeronautics and Space Act (English). NASA. Retrieved on November 09, 2007.
  3. ^ ABOUT THE DEEP SPACE NETWORK. JPL. Retrieved on 2007-11-10. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw
  4. ^ Uplink-Downklink, Chapter 5, The Galileo Era - 1986-1996.
  5. ^ The Future Deep Space Network: An Array of Many Small Antennas. JPL.
  6. ^ Durgadas S. Bagri, Joseph I. Statman, and Mark S. Gatti. Proposed Array-Based Deep Space Network for NASA. IEEE.

External links and further reading

Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
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