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Deep Space Network
| title |
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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Canberra Deep Dish Communica
…
| Title |
Canberra Deep Dish Communications Complex |
| Full Description |
View of Canberra 70m (230 ft.) antenna with flags from the three Deep Space Network sites. The Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex, located outside Canberra, Australia, is one of the three complexes which comprise NASA's Deep Space Network. The other complexes are located in Goldstone, California, and Madrid, Spain. |
| Date |
01/01/1990 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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JPL Site in 1942
| Title |
JPL Site in 1942 |
| Full Description |
In February 1942, there were only a few small buildings and rocket motor test pits on Jet Propulsion Laboratory's present site. George Emerson took this photograph from the hill above what is now the east gate. JPL is managed by the California Institute of Technology and is NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system. In addition to supervising robotic spacecraft and observing far-off galaxies in the universe, JPL is in charge of the Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone, near Madrid, Spain, and near Canberra, Australia. JPL is located in Pasadena, California about twelve miles northeast of Los Angeles. |
| Date |
02/1942 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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B-57B in flight
| Title |
B-57B in flight |
| Description |
This is a photograph of the Martin B-57 Canberra light bomber in flight. The aircraft has a bare-metal finish. The "V" insignia is from its use in the Viking Mars Lander parachute test program. In the early 1970s, a Martin B-57B Canberra light bomber was used in several NASA joint flight test programs at the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center) located at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The early 1970s showed a growing interest in continuing atmospheric research. The B-57B was at the NASA Flight Research Center for a joint program with NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia and was having a special set of instrumentation installed. Delays in completing the instruments provided an opportunity to support the NASA space program. The B-57B was used in proof-of-concept testing of the Viking Mars landers. The deceleration drop testing part of the program took place at the Joint Parachute Test Facility, El Centro, California. With completion of the Viking parachute tests, the B-57B was flown for measuring and analysis of atmospheric turbulence research in 1974-75 as part of a joint NASA program between the Flight Research Center and Langley Research Center. Additional atmospheric testing provided samples of aerosols for the University of Wyoming and clear-air turbulence data for the Department of Transportation. The aircraft was tested over a span of many years at Edwards Air Force Base by various NASA centers for other types of research. Earlier, in the 1960s, the aircraft was flown at the Flight Research Center by the Lewis Research Center (now the John Glenn Research Center) in support of the newly established NASA Electronics Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, in 1982, the B-57B aircraft returned to the Flight Research Center (then the Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility) for more Langley-sponsored turbulence testing. The atmospheric research conducted using the B-57B Canberra provided information on mountain waves, jet streams, convective turbulence, and clear-air turbulence. |
| Date |
01.01.1971 |
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B-57B in-flight
| Title |
B-57B in-flight |
| Description |
In this NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility photograph taken in 1982 the B-57B Canberra is shown making atmospheric measurements near a mountain range The Martin B-57B Canberra light bomber was used on several flight test programs at the NASA Flight Research Center and other NASA Centers. The two-seated aircraft was powered by two J56-W-5 turbojet engines. The atmospheric part of the research program provided information on mountain waves, jet streams, convective turbulence, and atmospheric contaminants. In the early 1970s, a Martin B-57B Canberra light bomber was used in several NASA joint flight test programs at the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center) located at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The early 1970s showed a growing interest in continuing atmospheric research. The B-57B was at the NASA Flight Research Center for a joint program with NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia and was having a special set of instrumentation installed. Delays in completing the instruments provided an opportunity to support the NASA space program. The B-57B was used in proof-of-concept testing of the Viking Mars landers. The deceleration drop testing part of the program took place at the Joint Parachute Test Facility, El Centro, California. With completion of the Viking parachute tests, the B-57B was flown for measuring and analysis of atmospheric turbulence research in 1974-75 as part of a joint NASA program between the Flight Research Center and Langley Research Center. Additional atmospheric testing provided samples of aerosols for the University of Wyoming and clear-air turbulence data for the Department of Transportation. The aircraft was tested over a span of many years at Edwards Air Force Base by various NASA centers for other types of research. Earlier, in the 1960s, the aircraft was flown at the Flight Research Center by the Lewis Research Center (now the John Glenn Research Center) in support of the newly established NASA Electronics Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, in 1982, the B-57B aircraft returned to the Flight Research Center (then the Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility) for more Langley-sponsored turbulence testing. The atmospheric research conducted using the B-57B Canberra provided information on mountain waves, jet streams, convective turbulence, and clear-air turbulence. |
| Date |
01.01.1982 |
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B-57B on ramp
| Title |
B-57B on ramp |
| Description |
A converted Martin B-57B Canberra medium bomber sits on the ramp at the NASA Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility, Edwards, California. The rugged NASA aircraft was flown by Dryden in the early 1970s to learn more about the atmosphere. Instrumented with a data acquisition system, Dryden pilots measured atmospheric conditions and clear-air turbulence at various altitudes and sampled the upper atmosphere for various aerosols. The research - to give scientists a better understanding of mountain waves, jet streams, convective turbulence, clear-air turbulence, and atmospheric contaminants - was sponsored by NASA's Langley Research Center, the University of Wyoming, and the Department of Transportation. The aircraft was retired from flight status in 1987. In the early 1970s, a Martin B-57B Canberra light bomber was used in several NASA joint flight test programs at the NASA Flight Research Center (now Dryden Flight Research Center) located at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The early 1970s showed a growing interest in continuing atmospheric research. The B-57B was at the NASA Flight Research Center for a joint program with NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia and was having a special set of instrumentation installed. Delays in completing the instruments provided an opportunity to support the NASA space program. The B-57B was used in proof-of-concept testing of the Viking Mars landers. The deceleration drop testing part of the program took place at the Joint Parachute Test Facility, El Centro, California. With completion of the Viking parachute tests, the B-57B was flown for measuring and analysis of atmospheric turbulence research in 1974-75 as part of a joint NASA program between the Flight Research Center and Langley Research Center. Additional atmospheric testing provided samples of aerosols for the University of Wyoming and clear-air turbulence data for the Department of Transportation. The aircraft was tested over a span of many years at Edwards Air Force Base by various NASA centers for other types of research. Earlier, in the 1960s, the aircraft was flown at the Flight Research Center by the Lewis Research Center (now the John Glenn Research Center) in support of the newly established NASA Electronics Center in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, in 1982, the B-57B aircraft returned to the Flight Research Center (then the Ames-Dryden Flight Research Facility) for more Langley-sponsored turbulence testing. The atmospheric research conducted using the B-57B Canberra provided information on mountain waves, jet streams, convective turbulence, and clear-air turbulence. |
| Date |
01.01.1982 |
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18) DSN - Australia:
| title |
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
…
| 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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