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KP4IG > SAT 15.09.03 00:47l 54 Lines 2235 Bytes #999 (0) @ AMSAT
BID : ANS-257.05
Read: DB0FHN GUEST
Subj: Updated Antenna Will Help Out NASA During Busiest Of Times
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<OK0PPL<OK0PHL<SR6BOX<SR7BBS<SP7MGD<WB0TAX<KP4IG
Sent: 030914/2231Z @:KP4IG.#JD.PR.USA.NA #:41328 WFBB7.00i $:ANS-257.05
From: KP4IG@KP4IG.#JD.PR.USA.NA
To : SAT@AMSAT
AMSAT News Service Bulletin 257.05 From AMSAT HQ
SILVER SPRING, MD. September 14,
To All RADIO AMATEURS
BID: $ANS-257.05
With the help of friends down under, calling home is about to get
easier. With NASA-funded upgrades planned for this summer, the Parkes
Radio Telescope in Australia, celebrated by the movie "The Dish" for
its role in the first moonwalk, will once again help communicate with
spacecraft exploring the solar system.
Owned by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization, the 64-meter (210-foot) antenna is located near the town
of Parkes, Australia. With upgrades to handle the current deep space
transmission standards, Parkes' will take on some of the workload of
NASA's Deep Space Network.
Managed by JPL, the Deep Space Network is the largest
telecommunications system in the world. With antennas in Spain,
Australia and California's Mojave Desert, the Deep Space Network is a
network of antennas that allow us to have two-way communications with
spacecraft at all times. JPL is overseeing the Parkes upgrades and
integrating Parkes into the Deep Space Network for several months of
operations.
Starting this coming November and peaking in January 2004, an
unprecedented fleet of spacecraft will require communications for
critical maneuvers. Among the potential users of the Parkes antenna are
NASA's Mars Odyssey, the Mars Global Surveyor, the two distant
Voyagers, the Stardust mission, the recently launched Space Infrared
Telescope Facility and the European Mars Express.
Although not part of the Deep Space Network, the Parkes antenna has
been used by NASA before to support the Apollo moon missions, the
Galileo spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, and both Voyager missions during
their grand tour of the solar system.
The major improvement is adding a microwave system that allows for
reception in the X-band frequency currently used by all JPL missions.
The X-band frequency has a larger spectrum that allows more data to be
transmitted. Better performance will also be achieved by extending the
antenna's solid paneling by 10 meters (about 33 feet).
[ANS thanks Space Daily for the above information.]
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