Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex
Encyclopedia
Robledo de Chavela
Robledo de Chavela is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. It has a population of 3319.The Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex is located in this town....
, Spain, and operated by Ingenieria y Servicios Aeroespaciales, S.A. (INSA) for Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial
The Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial is Spain's space agency. It was founded in 1942, as the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeronáutica , and has its headquarters in Torrejón de Ardoz, near Madrid....
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Deep Space Network
It is part of NASANASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
's Deep Space Network
Deep Space Network
The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
run by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
. The facility contributes to the Deep Space Network's ability to provide the vital two-way communications link that guides and controls remote control drones and receives the images and new scientific information they collect. This complex is one of three NASA Deep Space Network complexes in the world; the others are the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex
Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex
The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex — commonly called the Goldstone Observatory — is located in California's Mojave Desert. Operated by ITT Corporation for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, its main purpose is to track and communicate with space missions. It includes the Pioneer...
located in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, near the city of Barstow
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is a ground station that is located in Australia at Tidbinbilla in the Paddys River valley, about half an hour's drive out of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. The complex is part of the Deep Space Network run by NASA's Jet Propulsion...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
which is close to the city of Canberra
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
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Functions
The antennas and data delivery systems make it possible to:- Acquire telemetry data from spacecraft.
- Transmit commands to spacecraft.
- Track spacecraft position and velocity.
- Perform Radio Astronomy (both single-dish and very-long-baseline interferometry) observations.
- Measure variations in radio waves for radio science experiments.
- Monitor and control the performance of the Deep Space NetworkDeep Space NetworkThe Deep Space Network, or DSN, is a world-wide network of large antennas and communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions. It also performs radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe, and supports selected...
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Antennas
The complex has five antennas, called DSS-54, DSS-55, DSS-63, DSS-65 and DSS-66 .- DSS-54 and DSS-55 are 34-meter beam waveguide antennaBeam waveguide antennaA beam waveguide antenna is a specific variety of parabolic dish that sends the transmitted or received signal from a stationary transmitter or receiver to a movable dish by means of a beam waveguide. With a conventional parabolic antenna, the transmitter or receiver is mounted at the focus, and...
s.
- DSS-63 was built in 1974 as a 64-meter antenna, and upgraded to 70 metres in the late 1980s. It can transmit in S and X-band with a power up to 400 kilowatts and receive in L, S, and X bands. DSS-63 weighs a total of 8000 tonTonThe ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s, whereby the dish has a weight of 3500 tons. Its reflecting surface is 4180 square metres (4,999.2 sq yd).
- DSS-65 was built in 1987 and has a diameter of 34 meters. It is a HEF (high-efficiency) antenna. It can transmit in X-band with a maximum power of 20 kW and receive in S- and X-band. The weight of DSS-65 is 400 tons, whereby the dish weighs 350 tons.
- DSS-66 is a 26-meter antenna used in support of near-Earth missions and the early orbit phase of deep-space missions. This antenna was moved in 1983 from the nearby Fresnedillas NASA tracking station, prior to that station being shut down in 1985.