All Questions
Tagged with deep-spacedeep-space-network
15 questions
9votes
1answer
1kviews
How long could the Deep Space Network remain in contact with Voyager if the antenna was double the size?
According to NASA: The two Voyager spacecraft could remain in the range of the Deep Space Network through about 2036 Currently, the DSN (Deep Space Network)'s largest antenna is 70 meters in ...
7votes
1answer
270views
Why are modern satellite ground station and deep space communications dishes with secondary mirrors almost always Cassegrain?
The simplest dish antennas have a concave reflector and their feed horns at the primary focus which is "up in the air". That has several inconveniences, it's hard to go up there to do any ...
- 153k
4votes
0answers
78views
Currently, how many communications channels can a single DSN dish maintain at the same time? Are there plans to increase this in the future?
DSN NOW screenshot 2021-07-10 at 07:14 UTC DSN NOW screenshot 2021-07-10 at 09:48 UTC The screen shots show Canberra's Dish 35 simultaneously transmitting and receiving, and above it is written MRO, ...
- 153k
2votes
1answer
345views
Will future deep space optical communications "ground stations" actually be in space, or on the ground?
Deep space communications ground stations are on the ground because their transmit and receive electronics alone is bulky and heavy, not to mention their 34 and 70 meter dish antennas! But those ...
- 153k
2votes
1answer
230views
How high is the first Deep Space Atomic Clock orbiting? Does it receive radiation equivalent to that in deep space?
The Livescience article NASA's Tiny New Atomic Clock Could Let Spacecraft Drive Themselves in Deep Space says: But the radiation still changes the way the electronics operate. And those changes ...
- 153k
7votes
2answers
1kviews
Understanding the information contained in the Deep Space Network XML data?
NASA's Deep Space Network activity can be viewed conveniently at https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html but if you would like data in a more raw XML form, it can be accessed as described in this answer ...
- 153k
2votes
1answer
271views
What's the largest area dish antenna sent beyond the Earth-Moon system?
In the same vein as the question What's the largest aperture telescope sent beyond the Earth-Moon system?, I'd like to ask, what's the largest area antenna dish sent beyond the Earth-Moon system? If ...
- 153k
3votes
1answer
2kviews
How are the velocity and range of a spacecraft measured from ground based stations?
How are the velocity and range of a spacecraft measured from ground based stations? For example we can go on NASA's website and look at the real time data for the mission status of their past ...
- 41
1vote
2answers
1kviews
What is the highest non-optical frequency used or tested for use in deep space communication?
For dish antennas used to transmit a signal over large distances, the on-axis gain scales as $D^2/ \lambda^2$ or $D^2 f^2 / c^2$ where $\lambda$ and $f$ are the wavelength or frequency and $c$ is the ...
- 153k
13votes
5answers
1kviews
Why doesn't thermal radio emission from a DSN "hot dish" completely swamp the benefits of a cold LNA?
The 70 meter DSN dishes are often used to receive the weakest signals, and so their receiver LNAs have cryogenic front-ends in an assembly that also contains a LHe refrigerator and vacuum system. If I ...
- 153k
0votes
1answer
656views
What are the main sources of radio noise & interference limiting deep space data rates and availability?
Let's call "radio" anything electromagnetic below 300 GHz (1 millimeter), unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise. The question How well can Voyager 1 separate Earth signals from Solar ...
- 153k
7votes
2answers
2kviews
How do we track the exact location of the spacecraft which is millions or billions of miles away from us?
How do we track the exact location of the spacecraft which is millions or billions of miles away from us? What things do we study for tracking purpose? How exactly do we predict?
- 335
0votes
1answer
225views
How can the data rate be increased in noisy outer space?
What can we do to improve the data rate in outer space? I see that there are some noise sources that affect the signal quality between ground stations & deep space. As I've read so far in various ...
- 335
3votes
1answer
855views
How have/how will Indian ground stations be used for comms or tracking of deep space spacecraft?
I have a few data points, but not the big picture. 19-10-2016, the Giant Metre Wave Telescope was used to monitor the doppler shift of a beacon signal from the Schiaparelli spacecraft as it descended ...
- 153k
8votes
1answer
646views
Autonomous Navigation for deep space missions
Autonomous navigation started in early phases of deep space exploration as a provision to achieve accuracy for planet/natural satellite targeting and approach, where radio tracking accuracies were low,...
- 1,772
