Deep Space Station 23’s 133-ton reflector dish was recently installed, a major step in strengthening NASA’s Deep Space Network.
NASA’s Deep Space Network, an array of giant radio antennas, allows the agency’s missions to track, send commands and receive scientific data from spacecraft to the Moon and beyond. NASA is adding a new antenna to support the growing demand for the world’s largest and most sensitive radio frequency telecommunications system, bringing the total to 15.
The latest antenna installation took place on December 18, when teams at NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, installed the metal reflector framework for Deep Space Station 23, a multi-frequency Beam waveguide antenna. When operational in 2026, Deep Space Station 23 will receive transmissions from missions such as Perseverance, Psyche, Europa Clipper, Voyager 1, and the growing fleet of future human and robotic spacecraft in deep space.
“This addition to the Deep Space Network represents a significant communications upgrade for the agency,” said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA’s SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) program. “The communications infrastructure has been in continuous operation since its creation in 1963, and with this upgrade we are ensuring that NASA can support the growing number of exploration missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. ready to do.”
Construction of the new antenna has been underway for a long time. Four yearsand during installation, teams used a crawler crane to bolt the 112-foot-wide (34-meter-wide) parabolic reflector’s 133-ton metal structure to a 65-foot-high (20-meter) height. -hi)lided, a platform above the pedestal of the antenna which drives the reflector during operation.
“One of the biggest challenges we faced during lift was making sure that the 40 bolt holes between the structure and the ailerons,” said Germaine Aziz, systems engineer for the Deep Space Network Aperture Enhancement Program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Totally aligned.” . “This requires a meticulous emphasis on alignment before the lift to guarantee that everything runs smoothly on the day.”
After the main lift, engineers operated a light lift to place the quadripod, a four-legged support structure weighing 16 1/2 tons, in the center of the upward-facing reflector. The quadripod has a curved sub-reflector that will direct radio frequency signals from deep space that bounce off the main reflector and into the antenna pedestal, where the antenna’s receivers are placed.
Engineers will now work to fit the panels onto the steel skeleton to create a curved surface to reflect radio frequency signals. Upon completion, Deep Space Station 23 will be the fifth of six new beam waveguide antennas to join the network, following Deep Space Station 53. which was added. in 2022 at the Madrid complex of the Deep Space Network.
“With the Deep Space Network, we’re able to explore the Martian landscape with our rovers, see the amazing cosmic observations of the James Webb Space Telescope, and much more,” said JPL Director Laurie Lischen. “The network enables more than 40 deep space missions, including Voyager 1 and 2, the most distant human-made objects in the universe. will continue to support humanity’s quest for earth science and exploration far into the future.”
NASA’s Deep Space Network is managed by JPL, under the supervision of NASA SCaN program. NASA and more than 100 NASA missions rely on the Deep Space Network and Near Space Network, including helping astronauts aboard the International Space Station and the future Artemis mission, monitoring Earth’s weather and the effects of climate change. , assisting in the exploration of the Moon, and uncovering extraterrestrial life. The Solar System and Beyond.
For more information about the Deep Space Network, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/communicating-with-missions/dsn
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov
2024-179