View of the Canberra Complex showing the 70m (230 ft.) antenna
and the 34m (110 ft.) antennas. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
the ailing capsule pulling “whispers from space.”
Larger more sensitive antennae were built in the
1970s to support the extending reaches of missions like
Pioneer 10 as it imaged Jupiter for the first time. A series
of highly efficient 34-meter (112 foot) antennae were
constructed in the 1980s bringing communications in the
X-band for the first time. With more missions to track and
new partnerships with the European Space Agency, the
DSN was even busier. DSN’s importance was recognized
when the first deep space antenna at Goldstone
was named a National Historic Landmark in 1985.
The 1990s brought beam wave technology to
the network. Signals are routed into a room below
ground level with a greater variety of receivers
and more security. Today NASA is experimenting
with laser communications with the Optical
Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), which
could enable streaming HD video from Mars.
How you can get involved
with the Deep Space Network
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory brought
mission control to your desktop with Deep Space
Network Now (http://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/). The
website brings the status of communications with
the spacecraft exploring our solar system. This isn’t
a simulation but the same interface on the big
screens in NASA/JPL building 230’s Space Flight
Operations Facility (a.k.a. JPL Mission Control)
with real data updated every 5 seconds.
The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope
(GAVRT) allows students to operate a 34 meter
(112 foot) radio telescope via the internet from their
classroom. They study black holes, planets and help
monitor the health of spacecraft throughout the solar
system. This is real science and the results go into
databases used by astronomers and other scientists
around the world. For more information, visit
http://www.lewiscenter.org/.
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