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Contents
General information
Operations control center
Deep space Insignia for the Deep Space Network's 40th
History anniversary celebrations, 1998.
DSN and the Apollo program Alternative names NASA Deep Space
Management Network
Antennas Organization Interplanetary Network
Current signal processing capabilities Directorate
Network limitations and challenges (NASA / JPL)
DSN and radio science Location United States of
See also America, Spain,
References Australia
External links and further reading Coordinates 34°12′3″N 118°10′18″W
Established October 1, 1958
Website deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov
General information
Telescopes
DSN currently consists of three deep-space communications facilities
[1][2] They are:
Goldstone Deep Barstow, California,
placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the Earth.
Space United States
the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex Communications
(35°25′36″N 116°53′24″W) outside Barstow, California. For Complex
details of Goldstone's contribution to the early days of space
probe tracking, see Project Space Track; Madrid Deep Space Robledo de Chavela,
the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex(40°25′53″N Communications Community of
4°14′53″W), 60 kilometres (37 mi) west ofMadrid, Spain; and Complex Madrid, Spain
the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC)
in the Australian Capital Territory (35°24′05″S 148°58′54″E), 40 Canberra Deep Canberra, Australia
kilometres (25 mi) southwest ofCanberra, Australia near the Space
Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.
Communication
Each facility is situated in semi-mountainous, bowl-shaped terrain to help Complex
shield against radio frequency interference.[3] The strategic placement with
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nearly 120-degree separation permits constant observation of spacecraft as
the Earth rotates, which helps to make the DSN the largest and most
[4]
sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.
The DSN supports NASA's contribution to the scientific
investigation of the Solar System: It provides a two-way
communications link that guides and controls various NASA
unmanned interplanetary space probes, and brings back the
images and new scientific information these probes collect.
All DSN antennas are steerable, high-gain,parabolic reflector
antennas.[3] The antennas and data delivery systems make it
possible to:[2]
In the early years, the operations control center did not have a permanent facility. It was a provisional setup with numerous desks and
phones installed in a large room near the computers used to calculate orbits. In July 1961, NASA started the construction of the
permanent facility, Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF). The facility was completed in October 1963 and dedicated on May 14,
1964. In the initial setup of the SFOF, there were 31 consoles, 100 closed-circuit television cameras, and more than 200 television
displays to support Ranger 6 to Ranger 9 and Mariner 4.[5]
Currently, the operations center personnel at SFOF monitor and direct operations, and oversee the quality of spacecraft telemetry and
navigation data delivered to network users. In addition to the DSN complexes and the operations center, a ground communications
facility provides communications that link the three complexes to the operations center at JPL, to space flight control centers in the
[6]
United States and overseas, and to scientists around the world.
Deep space
Tracking vehicles in deep space is quite different from tracking missions in low Earth orbit (LEO). Deep space missions are visible
for long periods of time from a large portion of the Earth's surface, and so require few stations (the DSN has only three main sites).
These few stations, however, require huge antennas, ultra-sensitive receivers, and powerful transmitters in order to transmit and
receive over the vast distances involved.
Deep space is defined in several different ways. According to a 1975 NASA report, the DSN was designed to communicate with
"spacecraft traveling approximately 16,000 km (10,000 miles) from Earth to the farthest planets of the solar system."[7] JPL
diagrams[8] state that at an altitude of 30,000 km, a spacecraft is always in the field of view of one of the tracking stations.
The International Telecommunications Union, which sets aside various frequency bands for deep space and near Earth use, defines
[9]
"deep space" to start at a distance of 2 million km from the Earth's surface.
This definition means that missions to the Moon, and the Earth–Sun Lagrangian points L1 and L2, are considered near space and
cannot use the ITU's deep space bands. Other Lagrangian points may or may not be subject to this rule due to distance.
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.S. satellite.[10] NASA was officially
established on October 1, 1958, to consolidate the
separately developing space-exploration programs of
the US Army, US Navy, and US Air Force into one
civilian organization.[11]
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 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 Manned Space Flight 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. While Apollo was also a US mission, DSN provides this 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 lar
gest DSN facilities.
[14]
Excerpt from a NASA report describing how the DSN and MSFN cooperated for Apollo:
Another critical step in the evolution of the Apollo Network came in 1965 with the advent of the DSN Wing concept.
Originally, the participation of DSN 26-m antennas during an Apollo Mission was to be limited to a backup role. This
was one reason why the MSFN 26-m sites were collocated with the DSN sites at Goldstone, Madrid, and Canberra.
However, the presence of two, well-separated spacecraft during lunar operations stimulated the rethinking of the
tracking and communication problem. One thought was to add a dual S-band RF system to each of the three 26-m
MSFN antennas, leaving the nearby DSN 26-m antennas still in a backup role. Calculations showed, though, that a
26-m antenna pattern centered on the landed Lunar Module would suffer a 9-to-12 db loss at the lunar horizon,
making tracking and data acquisition of the orbiting Command Service Module difficult, perhaps impossible. It made
sense to use both the MSFN and DSN antennas simultaneously during the all-important lunar operations. JPL was
naturally reluctant to compromise the objectives of its many unmanned spacecraft by turning three of its DSN stations
over to the MSFN for long periods. How could the goals of both Apollo and deep space exploration be achieved
without building a third 26-m antenna at each of the three sites or undercutting planetary science missions?
The solution came in early 1965 at a meeting at NASA Headquarters, when Eberhardt Rechtin suggested what is now
known as the "wing concept". The wing approach involves constructing a new section or "wing" to the main building
at each of the three involved DSN sites. The wing would include a MSFN control room and the necessary interface
equipment to accomplish the following:
1. Permit tracking and two-way data transfer with either spacecraft during lunar operations.
2. Permit tracking and two-way data transfer with the combined spacecraft during the flight to the Moon.
3. Provide backup for the collocated MSFN site passive track (spacecraft to ground RF links) of the
Apollo spacecraft during trans-lunar and trans-earth phases.
With this arrangement, the DSN station could be quickly switched from a deep-space mission to Apollo and back
again. GSFC personnel would operate the MSFN equipment completely independently of DSN personnel. Deep
space missions would not be compromised nearly as much as if the entire station's equipment and personnel were
turned over to Apollo for several weeks.
[15][16]
The details of this cooperation and operation are available in a two-volume technical report from JPL.
Management
The network is a NASA facility and is managed and operated for NASA by JPL, which is part of the California Institute of
Technology (Caltech). The Interplanetary Network Directorate (IND) manages the program within JPL and is charged with the
development and operation of it. The IND is considered to be JPL's focal point for all matters relating to telecommunications,
interplanetary navigation, information systems, information technology, computing, software engineering, and other relevant
technologies. While the IND is best known for its duties relating to the Deep Space Network, the organization also maintains the JPL
Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System(AMMOS) and JPL'sInstitutional Computing and Information Services(ICIS).[17][18]
Harris Corporation is under a 5-year contract to JPL for the DSN's operations and maintenance. Harris has responsibility for
managing the Goldstone complex, operating the DSOC, and for DSN operations, mission planning, operations engineering, and
logistics.[19][20]
Antennas
Each complex consists of at least four deep space terminals equipped with ultra-sensitive receiving systems and large parabolic-dish
antennas. There are:
Arraying of antennas within the three DSN locations is also used. For example, a 70-meter (230 ft) dish antenna can be arrayed with
a 34-meter dish. For especially vital missions, like Voyager 2, the Canberra 70-meter (230 ft) dish can be arrayed with the Parkes
Radio Telescope in Australia; and the Goldstone 70-meter dish can be arrayed with theVery Large Array of antennas in New Mexico.
Also, two or more 34-meter (112 ft) 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.
Especially at Mars, there are often many spacecraft within the beam width of an antenna. For operational efficiency, a single antenna
can receive signals from multiple spacecraft at the same time. This capability is called Multiple Spacecraft Per Aperture, or
MSPA. Currently the DSN can receive up to 4 spacecraft signals at the same time, or MSPA-4. However, apertures cannot currently
be shared for uplink. When two or more high power carriers are used simultaneously, very high order intermodulation products fall in
the receiver bands, causing interference to the much (25 orders of magnitude) weaker received signals.[24] Therefore only one
spacecraft at a time can get an uplink, though up to 4 can be received.
was taken to expand the provision of 34-meter (112 ft) BWG antennas at each complex to a total of[27] 4.
New spacecraft intended for missions beyondgeocentric orbits are being equipped to use thebeacon mode service,
which allows such missions to operate without the DSN most of the time.
See also
Extended NASA missions Related Sources and Topics
Mars Exploration Rovers Space Network
Opportunity rover Near Earth Network
Spirit rover Space Communications and Navigation
Program (SCaN)
Curiosity rover
Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
Voyager program (Heliosheath and Heliopause)
List of observatories
Voyager 1 List of radio telescopes
Voyager 2
International Cometary Explorer (Earth's magnetic
field and Solar wind)
New Horizons (Pluto)
References
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Notes
1. The sun orbiting Ulysses' extended mission operation terminated June 30, 2009. The extension permitted a third
flyby over the Sun's poles in 2007–2008.
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.
3. DSPS is being developed; Deep Space Positioning System.
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