{"id":207094,"date":"2023-03-08T15:38:15","date_gmt":"2023-03-08T20:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/?p=207094"},"modified":"2023-09-21T19:57:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-21T23:57:42","slug":"history-of-the-deep-space-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/history-of-the-deep-space-network\/","title":{"rendered":"History of the Deep Space Network"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"\" class=\"padding-top-5 padding-bottom-3 width-full maxw-full hds-module hds-module-full wp-block-nasa-blocks-article-intro\"><div class=\"width-full maxw-full article-header\"><div class=\"margin-bottom-2 width-full maxw-full\"><p class=\"label carbon-60 margin-0 margin-bottom-3 padding-0\">2 min read<\/p><h1 class=\"display-48 margin-bottom-2\">History of the Deep Space Network<\/h1><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?w=1920\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"A black and white photo of a 26-meter antenna at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (now the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex) in July 1969. The antenna, Deep Space Station 42, points to the sky.\" style=\"transform: scale(1); transform-origin: 47% 2%; object-position: 47% 2%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=768,512 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=1024,683 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=1536,1024 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=400,267 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=600,400 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=900,600 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/dss42-1-fs.jpg?resize=1200,800 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" loading=\"eager\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Deep Space Network, Deep Space Station 42 (DSS-42) was the first antenna build on the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex tracking station site. The antenna entered service in 1964 and provided two-way radio communications with dozens until deep space missions until its retirement in 2000.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>NASA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/communicating-with-missions\/mwlxo\/\" data-type=\"topic\" data-id=\"193636\">Deep Space Network<\/a> (DSN) has a long history of enabling exploration. The forerunner to the DSN was established in January 1958, predating the official establishment of NASA in October 1958, when the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/location\/jet-propulsion-laboratory\/\" data-type=\"location\" data-id=\"86973\">Jet Propulsion Laboratory<\/a>, or JPL \u2013 then under contract to the U.S. Army \u2013 deployed portable radio tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California. That month, when the Army successfully launched Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite, these stations received telemetry and helped mission controllers plot the spacecraft\u2019s orbit. NASA was officially established in October of that year to consolidate the separately developing space-exploration programs of the Army, Navy and Air Force into one civilian organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 3, 1958, JPL was transferred from the Army to NASA and given responsibility for the design and execution of lunar and planetary exploration programs using robotic spacecraft. Shortly afterward, NASA established the concept of the Deep Space Network as a separately managed and operated communications facility that would accommodate all deep space missions. This model would remove the need for each flight project to acquire and operate its own specialized space communications network. The Deep Space Network was given responsibility for its own research, development and operations in support of its users. Under this model, it has become a world leader in the development of deep space communications and navigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Legacy of Lunar Exploration<\/h2>\n\n\n<div id=\"\" class=\"hds-media hds-module wp-block-image\"><div class=\"margin-left-auto margin-right-auto nasa-block-align-inline\"><div class=\"hds-media-wrapper margin-left-auto margin-right-auto\"><figure class=\"hds-media-inner hds-cover-wrapper hds-media-ratio-cover \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1635\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?w=2048\" class=\"attachment-2048x2048 size-2048x2048\" alt=\"A black and white photo of Australian technicians operating and monitoring systems for the 26-meter (85-foot) antenna at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (now known as the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex) in January 1969.\" style=\"transform: scale(1.2); transform-origin: 50% 50%; object-position: 50% 50%; object-fit: cover;\" block_context=\"nasa-block\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg 5834w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=300,239 300w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=768,613 768w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=1024,817 1024w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=1536,1226 1536w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=2048,1635 2048w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=400,319 400w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=600,479 600w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=900,718 900w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=1200,958 1200w, https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?resize=2000,1597 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><figcaption class=\"hds-caption padding-y-2\"><div class=\"hds-caption-text p-sm margin-0\">Australian technicians operate and monitor systems for the 85-foot (26-meter) antenna at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (now known as the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex) in January 1969.<\/div><div class=\"hds-credits\">NASA\/Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex<\/div><\/figcaption><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p>More than fifty years ago, NASA captured the world\u2019s imagination and inspired generations with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission\/apollo-11\/\" data-type=\"mission\" data-id=\"205939\">Apollo 11 <\/a>Moon landing. Back then, NASA\u2019s communications networks were crucial to mission success. Today, they continue their legacy as NASA plans to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon with the Artemis missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On July 20, 1969, NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, with Michael Collins orbiting above, became the first humans to land on the Moon. DSN antennas across the world helped receive  the first downlink and two-way communication from the surface of the Moon, also receiving the iconic communique, \u201c<em>That\u2019s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/uplink-downlink-dsn-history.pdf?emrc=f31a90\">Uplink-Downlink: A History of the Deep Space Network 1957-1997<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NASA\u2019s Deep Space Network (DSN) has a long history of enabling exploration. The forerunner to the DSN was established in January 1958, predating the official establishment of NASA in October 1958, when the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, or JPL \u2013 then under contract to the U.S. Army \u2013 deployed portable radio tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, [...]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":193804,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nasa_hds_core_meta_l10n":"en-US","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_editor":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_article_contacts":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_topic":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_linked_locations":[],"nasa_hds_core_meta_article_related_articles":[],"hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_id":"","hds_migrate_meta_pr_release_type":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_x":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_location_y":"","nasa_hds_core_meta_gallery_images":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2671,3315],"news-tags":[],"internal-terms":[],"coauthors":[8383,11359],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"History of the Deep Space Network","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/history-of-the-deep-space-network\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/history-of-the-deep-space-network\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg"},"articleSection":"NASA History","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Heather Monaghan"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Catherine G. Manning"}],"creator":["Heather Monaghan","Catherine G. Manning"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"NASA","logo":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/themes\/nasa\/assets\/images\/nasa-logo.svg"},"keywords":["NASA Directorates","Space Operations Mission Directorate","Space Communications & Navigation Program","NASA History"],"dateCreated":"2023-03-08T20:38:15Z","datePublished":"2023-03-08T20:38:15Z","dateModified":"2023-09-21T23:57:42Z"},"rendered":"<meta name=\"parsely-title\" content=\"History of the Deep Space Network\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-link\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/history\/history-of-the-deep-space-network\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-type\" content=\"post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-image-url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-pub-date\" content=\"2023-03-08T20:38:15Z\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-section\" content=\"NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-tags\" content=\"NASA Directorates,Space Operations Mission Directorate,Space Communications & Navigation Program,NASA History\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Heather Monaghan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"parsely-author\" content=\"Catherine G. Manning\" \/>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/nasa.gov\/p.js"},"read_time":2,"time_ago":"1 year","featured_image":{"id":193804,"file":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/apollo-at-tidbinbilla-14-jan-1969-looking-from-antenna.jpg","title":"Apollo at Tidbinbilla 1969","alt":"A black and white photo of Australian technicians operating and monitoring systems for the 26-meter (85-foot) antenna at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (now known as the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex) in January 1969.","caption":"Australian technicians operate and monitor systems for the 85-foot (26-meter) antenna at the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (now known as the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex) in January 1969."},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":515800,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207094\/revisions\/515800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207094"},{"taxonomy":"news-tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-tags?post=207094"},{"taxonomy":"internal-terms","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-terms?post=207094"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=207094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}