PIA23797: A Big Crane for a Big Dish


A Big Crane for a Big Dish

Caption:

Located in Canberra, Australia, the Deep Space Network's Deep Space Station 43 spans 70 meters (230 feet), making it the largest steerable parabolic antenna in the Southern Hemisphere. Since March 2020, it has been undergoing upgrades — expected to be complete in January 2021 — to prepare the 48-year-old dish for future exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. NASA operates three Deep Space Network stations, located in California, Spain, and Australia; each has a 70-meter (230-feet) antenna, plus several 34-meter (111-foot) dishes to support dozens of spacecraft exploring the solar system.

Background Info:

The Deep Space Network is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the agency's Human Exploration and Operations' Space Communication and Navigation program.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target
System
Target Type
Mission Deep Space Network (DSN)
Instrument Host Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex (CDSCC)
Host Type Ground-Based Observatory
Instrument
Detector
Extra Keywords Radio
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2020-07-09
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23797
Identifier PIA23797