Occasionally, all structures require improvements, especially those that ensure our communication with outer space. In March, NASA began such updates on the Deep Space Network, the agency’s interplanetary switchboard that enables communications with our robotic spacecraft.
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One of the largest antennas on the network, Deep Space Station 43 (DSS-43) in Canberra, Australia, recently received a new X-band frequency cone. Inside the cone is a powerful next-generation transmitter system and highly sensitive receivers. .
These will be used to send commands to spacecraft and receive telemetry and scientific data from robotic missions exploring the solar system. The antenna is forty-eight years old and 70 meters (230 feet) large.
Making the updates was not an easy task. Engineers used a giant crane to maneuver 3 tons cone in the center of the massive plate after lifting it twenty stories from the ground. The antenna is also receiving improvements to its water coolant system and mechanical and electrical equipment.
After 40 years of use, some of the components being upgraded have become increasingly unreliable. The antenna has been disconnected since the beginning of March 2020.
The updates are scheduled to be completed in January 2021, then the antenna will be operational again. TThe Deep Space Network spans three locations worldwide: California, Spain and Australia.
This allows communication with spacecraft on the Moon and beyond at all times during Earth’s rotation. However, DSS-43 is the only antenna that can send commands to Voyager 2.
Other antennas can receive Voyager 2 signals, but DSS-43 is the only dish that can Send commands to the spacecraft. Voyager 2 is more than 11 billion miles (18 billion km) from Earth and therefore requires a powerful radio antenna to transmit commands. Voyager 2 was launched in 1977.
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