The Deep Space Network is one of two NASA net- works. The DSN acquires, processes, decodes, and distributes this data. Called the Deep Space Optical Communications project, this equipment will send data and images to an observatory at Southern California’s Palomar Mountain.
It’s the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world, and is responsible for communicating with and receiving terabits of data from the armada of spacecraft touring our solar system. 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. Commands are sent to robotic probes as coded computer files that the craft execute as a series of actions. Credit: P. Schenk.In addition, its vital role as the communications hub for deep space exploration, the DSN is also used as an advanced instrument for scientific research, including radio astronomy and radar mapping of passing asteroids.
The Deep Space Network (DSN) supports NASA and non-NASA missions that explore the furthest points of our solar system. How quickly is data being received? That’s because the Voyager’s primary means of communication, the DSN’s 70-meter-wide (230-feet-wide) radio antenna in Canberra, Australia, will be undergoing critical upgrades for about 11 months. The work on the Canberra DSN station is expected to be completed by January 2021.In the meantime, anyone can monitor what is happening at the three main DSN sites via the “DSN Now” website. In July 1961, NASA started the construction of the permanent facility, Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF). The Canberra 70-meter antenna (called “DSS43”) is the only such antenna in the southern hemisphere. It made sense to use both the MSFN and DSN antennas simultaneously during the all-important lunar operations. “The maintenance is needed to support the missions that NASA is developing and launching in the future, as well as supporting the missions that are operating right now,” said Suzanne Dodd, Voyager project manager and JPL Director for the Interplanetary Network.A view of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Center from the hill to the west. The miscommunication was caused by the fact that NASA relies on a system called the Deep Space Network to communicate with Perseverance even soon after launch, when the … The other, the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network, is under the system management and technical direction of the Goddard Space Flight Center. Around 11:30 a.m. EDT (8:30 a.m. PDT), a signal with telemetry was received from Mars 2020 by NASA ground stations. In order to meet the current and future needs of deep space communication services, a number of new Deep Space Station antennas had to be built at the existing Deep Space Network sites. Spacecraft send information and pictures back to Earth using the Deep Space Network, or DSN.The DSN is a collection of big radio antennas in different parts of the world. The 34-meter-wide (112-foot-wide) antenna dish currently under construction represents a future in which more missions will require advanced technology, such as lasers capable of transmitting vast amounts of data from astronauts on the lunar or martian surface. From Mercury to Pluto (and beyond), we have marveled at the stunning vistas found throughout our solar system. Other space agencies, such as Europe’s European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), also use the DSN through cooperative agreements. For more information on the first 40 years of the DSN, visit For over half a century the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) has provided a vital communications link for NASA/JPL manned and unmanned spacecraft. In the initial setup of the SFOF, there were 31 consoles, 100 closed-circuit television cameras, and more than 200 television displays to support 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. Credit: P. Schenk.Antenna stations are remotely operated from a signal processing center at each complex.
The Deep Space Network - or DSN - is NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, plus a few that orbit Earth. “This signifies that JPL’s deep space network has locked on to the spacecraft, which is on its journey to Mars,” said Omar Baez, launch manager at NASA’s Launch Services Program. The ability to array several antennas was incorporated to improve the data returned from the The DSN array currently available since the Galileo mission can link the 70-meter (Arraying of antennas within the three DSN locations is also used. During this time, the Voyager team will still be able to receive science data from Voyager 2 on its mission to explore the outermost edge of the Sun’s domain and beyond. Since that time, the DSN has kept the legacy alive by providing communications for a very long roll call of missions for NASA and other space agencies. The antenna was moved six miles in June 1962 to the Venus site (DSS-13) and in 1979 it was extended to 34 meters (111 feet) in diameter. Site Manager: Jon Nelson Webmasters: Anil Natha, Luis Espinoza Webmasters: Anil Natha, Luis Espinoza Credit: P. Schenk.While clouds can disrupt lasers, Goldstone’s clear desert skies make it an ideal location to serve as a laser receiver about 60% of the time.