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Earth of Canberra and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Deep Space Network
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Deep Space Network |
| description |
The NASA Deep Space Network - or DSN - is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network also supports selected Earth-orbiting missions. The DSN currently consists of three deep-space communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the world: at Goldstone, in California's Mojave Desert, near Madrid, Spain, and near Canberra, Australia. This strategic placement permits constant observation of spacecraft as the Earth rotates, and helps to make the DSN the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world. NASA's scientific investigation of the Solar System is being accomplished mainly through the use of unmanned automated spacecraft. The DSN provides the vital two-way communications link that guides and controls these planetary explorers, and brings back the images and new scientific information they collect. All DSN antennas are steerable, high-gain, parabolic reflector antennas. The network is managed and operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The Interplanetary Network Directorate (IND) manages the program within JPL. For more on the Deep Space Network, visit http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn/index.html *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Bushfires Raging in Southeas
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Bushfires Raging in Southeast Australia |
| Description |
Ribbons of flame trace across the parched landscape of southeast Australia. Prolonged, severe drought (exacerbated by an El Ni¤o), high winds, and high temperatures have sparked scores of fires across New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. Lives, homes, farmland, and livestock have been lost to the blazes. This scene, situated roughly 30 km southwest of Canberra, shows smoke billowing from one of the numerous fires in the region. This unusual image was made from data collected on January 26, 2003, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on the Terra satellite. The image is a combination of radiation in the visible and shortwave infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, using ASTER bands 3, 2, and 1. Fires burning in vegetation tend to emit radiation very strongly in the short wave infrared wavelengths of radiation, and this strong signal can be used to locate areas of open flame. In this image, the strong shortwave infrared signal of the flames has been colored bright yellow. Vegetation is red, and naturally bare soil is tan. The full scene is roughly 40 km by 60 km in area. Image courtesy NASA's Earth Observatory. |
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Venus - Crater Golubkina
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Venus - Crater Golubkina |
| Description |
This Magellan image mosaic shows the impact crater Golubkina, first identified in Soviet Venera 15/16 data. The crater is named after Anna Golubkina (1864-1927), a Soviet sculptor. The crater is about 34 kilometers (20.4 miles) across, similar to the size of the West Clearwater impact structure in Canada. The crater Golubkina is located at about 60.5 degrees north latitude, 286.7 degrees east longitude. Magellan data reveal that Golubkina has many characteristics typical of craters formed by a meteorite impact including terraced inner walls, a central peak, and radar bright rough ejecta surrounding the crater. The extreme darkness of the crater floor indicates a smooth surface, perhaps formed by the pounding of lava flows in the crater floor as seen in many lunar impact craters. The radar bright ejecta surrounding the crater indicates a relatively fresh or young crater. Craters with central peaks in the Soviet data range in size from about 10.60 km (6.36 miles) across. The largest crater identified in the Soviet Venera data is 140 km (84 miles) in diameter. This Magellan image strip is approximately 20 km (12 miles) wide and this piece of the image is approximately 100 km (62 miles) long. The image is a mosaic of two orbits obtained in the first Magellan radar test and played back to Earth to the Deep Space Network stations near Goldstone, Calif. and Canberra, Australia, respectively. The resolution of this image is approximately 120 meters (400 feet). The see-saw margins result from the offset of individual radar frames obtained along the orbit. The spacecraft moved from the north (top) to the south, looking to the left. |
| Date |
08.24.1990 |
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18) DSN - Australia:
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18) DSN - Australia: |
| Description |
Odyssey will communicate with Earth through the Deep Space Network, a global network of antennas that allow us to send commands to the spacecraft and receive data back from it. During the first two months of cruise, only the DSN station in Canberra, Australia will be capable of viewing the spacecraft. Late in May, California's Goldstone station will come into view, and by early June the Madrid station will also be able to track the spacecraft. The project has also added the use of a tracking station in Santiago, Chile to fill in tracking coverage early in the mission. |
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Fires in the Australian Capi
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PIA04302
Sol (our sun)
Multi-angle Imaging SpectroR
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| Title |
Fires in the Australian Capital Territory |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The height and extent of billowing smoke plumes from bushfires near Canberra, the Australian capital, are illustrated by these views from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). The images were acquired on January 18, 2003. Never before had fires of this magnitude come so close to Australia's capital. Four people lost their lives and over 500 homes were destroyed, mostly in the southwestern suburbs. Australia's famous Mount Stromlo Observatory, located immediately west of the city, was also incinerated by the fires. The top panel portrays a natural-color view from MISR's nadir camera, in which the eastern portion of the Australian Capital Territory is located south of a pale, ephemeral lake in the upper left-hand corner (Lake George). Several smoke plumes originate within the eastern part of the Australian Capital Territory, while the major plumes originate to the west of the image area. The Australian Capital Territory and much of New South Wales are completely obscured by the smoke, which is driven by fierce westerly winds and extends eastward to the coast and over the Pacific Ocean. The lower panel provides a stereoscopically retrieved height field of the clouds and smoke plumes. The greenish areas indicate where smoke plumes extend several kilometers above a bank of patchy stratus clouds below. A few high clouds appear near the bottom of the image. Wind retrievals were excluded from this image in order to generate a smooth and continuous field. Although relative height variations are well-represented here, the inclusion of wind retrievals for this scene reduces the actual cloud height results by 1 to 2 kilometers. Areas where heights could not be retrieved are shown as dark gray. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer observes the daylit Earth continuouslyand every 9 days views the entire globe between 82 degrees north and 82 degrees south latitude. This data product was generated from a portion of the imagery acquired during Terra orbit 16421. The panels cover an area of 380 kilometers x 253 kilometers, and utilize data from blocks 118 to 120 within World Reference System-2 path 89. MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division of the California Institute ofTechnology. |
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Venus - First Radar Test
PIA00205
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - First Radar Test |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
After traveling more than 1.5 billion kilometers (948 million miles), the Magellan spacecraft was inserted into orbit around Venus on Aug. 10, 1990. This mosaic consists of adjacent pieces of two Magellan image strips obtained on Aug. 16 in the first radar test. The radar test was part of a planned In Orbit Checkout sequence designed to prepare the Magellan spacecraft and radar to begin mapping after Aug. 31. The strip on the left was returned to the Goldstone Deep Space Network station in California, the strip to the right was received at the DSN in Canberra, Australia. A third station that will be receiving Magellan data is located near Madrid, Spain. Each image strip is 20 km (12 miles) wide and 16,000 km (10,000 miles) long. This mosaic is a small portion 80 km (50 miles) long. This image is centered at 21 degrees north latitude and 286.8 degrees east longitude, southeast of a volcanic highland region called Beta Regio. The resolution of the image is about 120 meters (400 feet), 10 times better than previous images of the same area of Venus, revealing many new geologic features. The bright line trending northwest southeast across the center of the image is a fracture or fault zone cutting the volcanic plains. In the upper left corner of the image, a multiple ring circular feature of probable volcanic origin can be seen, approximately 4.27 km (2.65 miles) across. The bright and dark variations seen in the plains surrounding these features correspond to volcanic lava flows of varying ages. The volcanic lava flows in the southern half of the image have been cut by north south trending faults. This area is similar geologically to volcanic deposits seen on Earth at Hawaii and the Snake River Plains in Idaho. |
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Venus - Rhea Mons Volcano
PIA00208
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Rhea Mons Volcano |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Two mosaiced pieces of Magellan image strips display the area east of the Rhea Mons volcano on Venus. This image is centered at about 32.5 degrees north latitude and 286.6 degrees east longitude. The mosaic is 47 kilometers (28 miles) wide and 135 km (81 miles) long. This region has been previously identified as "tessera" from Earth-based radar (Arecibo) images. The center of the image is dominated by a network of intersecting ridges and valleys. The radar bright north south trending features in this image range from 1 km (0.6 mile) to 3 km (1.8 miles) in length. The average spacing between these ridges is about 1.5 km (0.9 mile). The dark patches at the top of the image are smooth surfaces and may be lava flows located in lowlands between the higher ridge and the valley terrain. This image is a mosaic of two orbits obtained in the first Magellan radar test and played back to Earth to the Deep Space Network stations near Goldstone, Calif. and Canberra, Australia, respectively. The resolution of this image is approximately 120 meters (400 feet). |
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Venus - Crater Golubkina
PIA00236
Sol (our sun)
Imaging Radar
| Title |
Venus - Crater Golubkina |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This Magellan image mosaic shows the impact crater Golubkina, first identified in Soviet Venera 15/16 data. The crater is named after Anna Golubkina (1864-1927), a Soviet sculptor. The crater is about 34 kilometers (20.4 miles) across, similar to the size of the West Clearwater impact structure in Canada. The crater Golubkina is located at about 60.5 degrees north latitude, 286.7 degrees east longitude. Magellan data reveal that Golubkina has many characteristics typical of craters formed by a meteorite impact including terraced inner walls, a central peak, and radar bright rough ejecta surrounding the crater. The extreme darkness of the crater floor indicates a smooth surface, perhaps formed by the pounding of lava flows in the crater floor as seen in many lunar impact craters. The radar bright ejecta surrounding the crater indicates a relatively fresh or young crater. Craters with central peaks in the Soviet data range in size from about 10.60 km (6.36 miles) across. The largest crater identified in the Soviet Venera data is 140 km (84 miles) in diameter. This Magellan image strip is approximately 20 km (12 miles) wide and this piece of the image is approximately 100 km (62 miles) long. The image is a mosaic of two orbits obtained in the first Magellan radar test and played back to Earth to the Deep Space Network stations near Goldstone, Calif. and Canberra, Australia, respectively. The resolution of this image is approximately 120 meters (400 feet). The see-saw margins result from the offset of individual radar frames obtained along the orbit. The spacecraft moved from the north (top) to the south, looking to the left. |
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Space Radar Image of Canberr
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PIA01829
Sol (our sun)
| Title |
Space Radar Image of Canberra, Australia |
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