'Major Surgery' Completed On Deep Space Network Antenna | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-11.04.24

Airborne-NextGen-11.05.24

Airborne-Unlimited-11.06.24

Airborne-FlightTraining-11.07.24

Airborne-Unlimited-11.08.24

Wed, Nov 03, 2010

'Major Surgery' Completed On Deep Space Network Antenna

Repair Required Lifting Seven Million Pounds Less Than Half An Inch

The seven-month upgrade to the historic "Mars antenna" at NASA's Deep Space Network site in Goldstone, CA has been completed. After a month of intensive testing, similar to the rehabilitation stage after "surgery", the antenna is now ready to help maintain communication with spacecraft during the next decade of space exploration.


70 Meter Antenna NASA Photo

The month of October was used as a testing period to make sure the antenna was in working order and fully functional, as scheduled, for Nov. 1. A team of workers completed an intense series of tasks to reach its first milestone - upgrading the 230-foot-wide (70-meter) antenna in time to communicate with the EPOXI mission spacecraft during its planned flyby of comet Hartley 2 on Nov. 4.

The first official demonstration space track was on Sept. 28, when the antenna communicated with NASA's EPOXI mission spacecraft.

"We've been testing the antenna since Sept. 28, and we've had no problems in tracking the spacecraft," said Peter Hames of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, who is responsible for maintaining the network's antennas. "We are ready to resume service as scheduled." JPL manages the Deep Space Network for NASA.

During the upgrade process, workers raised a portion of the antenna that weighs 7 million pounds up from the base by 0.2 inches while they performed a precise, delicate repair. They replaced a portion of the hydrostatic bearing (enabling the antenna to rotate horizontally) and the four elevation bearings (enabling the antenna to track up and down from the horizon).

Unlike the sterile confines of an operating room, this surgery took place in the middle of California's Mojave Desert, a hot oasis baked by the unforgiving desert heat. The team members were able to cheat the heat by completing a number of the 375 tasks during early morning and night shifts. The tasks required the team to analyze, load, lift, install, test, analyze again and inspect.


Workers Making Repairs NASA Photo

The Deep Space Network consists of three deep-space communication facilities positioned approximately 120 degrees of longitude apart. In addition to the Mojave Desert location at Goldstone, the other locations are outside of Madrid, Spain, and Canberra, Australia. Each 70-meter antenna is capable of tracking a spacecraft traveling more than 10 billion miles from Earth. The antennas are strategically situated at each location in semi-mountainous basins to reduce radio frequency interference. This careful placement helps make the Deep Space Network the largest and most sensitive science telecommunications system in the world.

In March 1966, the antenna, officially known as Deep Space Station 14, earned its nickname as the Mars antenna by receiving the first signal from NASA's Mariner 4 mission to Mars. The historic dish is now responsible for tracking an entire fleet of missions, including the rovers Spirit and Opportunity currently on the surface of Mars, the Cassini orbiter at Saturn, the twin Voyager spacecraft in the outer reaches of our solar system, and the Spitzer Space Telescope, which observes stars, galaxies and other celestial objects.

"We are nearing the completion of a very challenging engineering effort that will extend the life of one of the DSN's workhorses, making it more available and reliable in returning critical science data through at least 2025," said Wayne Sible, the network's deputy project manager at JPL.

"The 70-meter antenna gets under your skin, everyone involved in this project was so passionate about it, from the grout workers to the machine shops to the guys on the antenna, everybody was giving it their absolute all," said Hames.

FMI: www.nasa.gov

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (11.06.24): Conflict Alert

Conflict Alert A function of certain air traffic control automated systems designed to alert radar controllers to existing or pending situations between tracked targets (known IFR >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (11.06.24)

“The aerospace supply chain supports industry growth and opportunities. It involves tens of thousands of suppliers from all over the globe which provide parts, platforms and >[...]

Airborne 11.04.24: World Drone Races, Manta Aircraft, Stratus Power Max

Also: Large Formation Skydiving, USCG Medevac, ARTCC Meteorologists, SpaceX 2024 100th The 2024 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Drone Racing>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (11.07.24)

“This is a victory, we can hold our heads high. We all stood strong, and we achieved something that we hadn’t achieved the last 22 years…Now it’s our job t>[...]

Airborne 11.06.24: Skyryse One, MASSIVE Lycoming AD, Coked Up C206

Also: Hartzell Expands, Japan V-22 Ills, RCAF H135 Deal, B-29 Doc On Tour Skyryse reservations for its Skyryse One First Edition helicopters have sold out in just six months. Early>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC