Deep Space Network

NASA Deep Space Network DSN (Link to NASA site)

NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) started On December 3, 1958 and is now the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world, used also to track spacecraft. Run by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena USA

the DSN runs a collection of big antennas used as a powerful system for commanding, tracking and monitoring the health and safety of spacecraft at many distant planetary locales. The DSN also enables powerful science investigations that probe the nature of asteroids and the interiors of planets and moons using the space based assets around Earth using the TDSR satellites also our Moon as well as Mars.

The Antennas are set up all around the world so as to assure communications while the world spins once every 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.0916 seconds (Sidereal day)

NASA Deep space tracking locations

• Madrid - Spain

• Goldstone - USA

• Canberra - Australia

You can find out what each antenna is communicating with live at this JPL website

The NASA DNS was used with Explorer 1 as it became the first successfully launched satellite by the United States on January 31, 1958.

It also supports communicate with many spacecraft from other countries (apart from China).

Other countries also run their own DSN's China, Europe(ESTRACK), India and Russia.