computer science

History of the Deep Space Network

History of the Deep Space Network is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand History of the Deep Space Network rather than just read about it. In short: The forerunner of the Deep Space Network was established in January 1958, when JPL, then under contract to the U.S. Army, deployed portable radio tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California to receive telemetry and plot the orbit of the Army-launched Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite.

Key takeaways

History of the Deep Space Network belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect History of the Deep Space Network to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of History of the Deep Space Network from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The forerunner of the Deep Space Network was established in January 1958, when JPL, then under contract to the U.S. Army, deployed portable radio tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California to receive telemetry and plot the orbit of the Army-launched Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite. NASA (and the DSN by extension) was officially established on October 1, 1958, to consolidate the separately developing space-exploration programs of the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force into one civilian organization.

Origin in the 1950s On December 3, 1958, JPL was transferred from the US Army to NASA and given responsibility for the design and execution of lunar and planetary exploration programs using remotely controlled spacecraft. Shortly after the transfer NASA established the concept of the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (DSIF) as a separately managed and operated communications system that would accommodate all deep space missions, thereby avoiding the need for each flight project to acquire and operate its own specialized space communications network. The coded doppler, ranging, and command (CODORAC) system developed by Eberhardt Rechtin, Richard Jaffe, and Walt Victor became the basis for much of the DSIF's electronics. Susan Finley was part of the team that built the network's software. In order to support deep space missions around the clock it was necessary to establish a network of three stations separated by approximately 120 degrees of longitude so that as the Earth turned a spacecraft was always above the horizon of at least one station. To this end two overseas facilities with 26m antennas were established to complement the 26m antenna sites (DSIF 11 and 12) at Goldstone in California. (DSIF 13 at Goldstone was used for research and development.) The first overseas site was DSIF 41 at Island Lagoon near Woomera in Australia. It was operated by the Australian Department of Supply which ran the Woomera Rocket Range. The other, DSIF 51, was at Hartebeesthoek near Johannesburg in South Africa, operated by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). These two stations were completed in 1961. Each DSIF station had transmit and receive capability at 960 MHz in the L-band of the radio spectrum, and could process telemetry. Telephone and teletype circuits linked the stations to a mission operations room at JPL. As missions became more numerous the operations room developed into the Space Flight Operations Facility (which was designated a national historic landmark in 1985), and the personnel and equipment common to all missions were incorporated into the DSIF which was renamed the Deep Space Network in 1963. The DSN was given responsibility for its own research, development, and operation in support of all of its users. Under this concept, it has contributed to the development of low-noise receivers; large parabolic-dish antennas; tracking, telemetry, and command systems; digital signal processing; and deep space navigation.

The Mariner Era 1961 to 1974 The DSN started the period able to support JPL designed spacecraft and telemetry and was progressively improved to cope with the increased demands placed upon it by new programs.

In 1963 the availability of new amplifiers and transmitters operating in the S-band (at 2,200 MHz) allowed the DSN to take advantage of better tracking performance at the higher frequency, and later missions were designed to use it. However the Ranger and early Mariner missions still needed L-band, so converters were installed at the stations along with the new S-band upgrades. These converters were removed at the end of the L-band missions. This transfer to S-band was a major enhancement of the DSN capabilities in this era; another was the introduction of rubidium frequency standards which improved the quality of radio Doppler data and hence improved the trajectory determinations needed for interplanetary missions. As the supported and planned missions became more numerous it became clear that a second network of stations was required. For political and logistical reasons the new overseas stations were established at Robledo near Madrid in Spain, and at Tidbinbilla near Canberra in Australia, and the second network of 26m antennas was operational in 1965. JPL had long recognized the need for larger antennas to support missions to distant planets and a 64 m antenna of a radical new design was built at Goldstone. It gave over six times the sensitivity of the 26 m antennas, more than doubling their tracking range. The station was commissioned in 1966 as DSS 14. Mobile DSN equipment was used at Cape Canaveral to check out spacecraft compatibility and operation prior to launch, and monitor the early flight. In 1965 this became a permanent facility, DSS 71. The early Surveyor missions were planned to launch with a direct-ascent trajectory to the Moon, rather than insertion from a parking orbit. Translunar injection would then be before spacecraft rise at DSS 51 or 61. To obtain the early trajectory data vital for mid-course corrections, a new station with a small and fast-moving antenna was built on Ascension Island and became DSS 72. The station was integrated with the Apollo program.

1966 to 1968

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Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with History of the Deep Space Network

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what History of the Deep Space Network claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to History of the Deep Space Network before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about History of the Deep Space Network ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of History of the Deep Space Network

In research: History of the Deep Space Network appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses History of the Deep Space Network in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: History of the Deep Space Network is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics History of spaceflight, NASA radio communications and spacecraft tracking facilities, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for History of the Deep Space Network outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study History of the Deep Space Network in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what History of the Deep Space Network means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain History of the Deep Space Network out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is History of the Deep Space Network in simple terms?

Why does History of the Deep Space Network matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study History of the Deep Space Network?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on History of the Deep Space Network.