Telemetry Dish And Pedestal Tracked Spacecraft, Aircraft

When NASA’s administration Building 4800 at the Dryden Flight Research Center was built in the 1950s, it contained the infrastructure to support and anchor a rooftop telemetry dish and its pedestal that were used to track and collect data from many different experimental aircraft as well as spacecraft.

The dish and pedestal were retired in 2015 but left in place until a recent roofing project provided an opportunity to relocate the relics to another place of honor.

Bob Guere, NASA Armstrong Range Operations chief, was referring to the area where aircraft taxi from the hangar to the flightline when he said, “Gathering telemetry data from aircraft on missions is at the core of what we do. Close proximity to the back ramp was one of the big advantages of having the telemetry antenna on the roof in the early days. You were able to support ground tests and check airplanes before they taxied without having to use telemetry antennas positioned further away.”

The dish and pedestal were not removed when it was decommissioned due to the cost. Now, however, using a helicopter to remove it is economical compared to other options, and the removal was incorporated into the major re-roofing of the building.

The helicopter hoist of the two parts took a month to plan and obtain the airspace operation and landing permit from the Air Force. The dish and pedestal were lifted separately from the roof and taken to the south side of the building where the cable was released. The parts will remain there until a new location for their display is decided, but options mentioned focus on someplace near the entrance to the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, renamed in 2014 in honor of astronaut Neil A. Armstrong.

FMI:  www.nasa.gov/