Used for interacting with far-off spacecraft, an enormous radio antenna is being retrofitted to prepare it for a hectic future of planetary system expedition.
The Deep Space Network is NASA’s interplanetary switchboard that allows continuous interactions with our robotic spacecraft. In March, among the network’s biggest antennas — Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43) in Canberra, Australia — started going through much-needed upgrades.
Forty-8 years of ages and 70 meters (230 feet) broad, the meal just recently got a brand-new X-band frequency cone. Inside the cone is an effective cutting edge transmitter system and extremely delicate receivers, which will be utilized to send out commands to spacecraft and get telemetry and science information back from robotic objectives checking out the planetary system.
A huge crane navigated the 3-ton cone into the center of the enormous meal after raising it 20 stories from the ground. In addition to the brand-new cone, the antenna is getting upgrades to its water coolant system and its mechanical and electrical devices. Some of the parts being updated have actually ended up being significantly undependable after remaining in continuous usage for 40 years. The antenna has actually been offline because early March 2020, and the upgrades are arranged to be finished by January 2021.
One of 3 networks in NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN), the Deep Space Network is topped 3 places all over the world — California, Spain, and Australia. This enables objective controllers to interact with spacecraft on the Moon and beyond at all times throughout Earth’s rotation.
However, as the sole 70-meter antenna in the Southern Hemisphere, just DSS-43 can send out commands to Voyager 2, which is taking a trip in a southward instructions relative to Earth’s orbital airplane. (Other antennas at the Canberra complex can get signals from Voyager 2, however DSS-43 is the only meal that can send out commands to the spacecraft.) Launched in 1977, Voyager 2 is more than 11 billion miles (18 billion kilometers) from Earth and for that reason needs an effective radio antenna to transfer commands. Deep Space Station 43’s unique S-band transmitter has this ability and runs on a frequency that can interact with Voyager’s innovation.
While the repair work will benefit Voyager 2 straight, they’ll likewise boost interactions with the soon-to-launch Perseverance Mars rover and future Moon to Mars expedition efforts. The network will play a crucial function in making sure interaction and navigation assistance for both the precursor Moon and Mars objectives and the crewed Artemis objectives.
The Deep Space Network is handled by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for SCaN, situated at NASA Headquarters within the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. The Canberra station is handled on NASA’s behalf by Australia’s nationwide science company, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.