Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex

40.431388888889 - 4.2480555555556Koordinaten: 40 ° 25 ' 53 "N, 4 ° 14' 53 " W

The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex ( MDSCC ) is situated in a hollow at a height of about 800 meters above sea level in the municipalities of Robledo de Chavela and Fresnedillas de la Oliva, about 50 kilometers west of Madrid, Spain. MDSCC is a radio telescope facility in the Deep Space Network (DSN ) for the monitoring of space probes. The complex was built in 1961 by the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA ) in collaboration with NASA.

The MDSCC complex has a total of six satellite dishes with the following dimensions ( in meters): a 70 (DSS -63 ), three of 34 (DSS -65, DSS -54, DSS -55 ), a 26 (DSS -66) and the oldest antenna DSS -61, which was built in 1961 and 1964 served the Mariner program of NASA.

DSS -63

The antenna DSS -63 was taken on May 14, 1974 the Spanish King Juan Carlos in operation and had a diameter of 64 meters. In 1989 it was extended for the rendezvous of the Voyager 2 spacecraft with the planet Neptune on 70 meters. You can send with a transmission power of up to 400 kW in the S- and X-band and received in the L, S, X and K band. The DSS -63 weighs 8,000 tons, of which the antenna whose area is 4180 m², 3,500 tons weighs.

DSS -65

The antenna DSS -65 was built in 1987 and has a diameter of 34 meters. You can send with a transmitter power of 20 kW in the S- and X-band. The weight of the DSS -65 is 400 tons, with the antenna weighs 350 tons.

DSS -54

The antenna DSS -55 was built in 1997 and has a diameter of 34 meters. You can with a transmitter power of 20 kW send the X-band and receive on the bands S, X and K. The weight of the DSS -55 is 348 tons. DSS - 54 was a Type: executed Beam Waveguide (BWG ), ( signal transmission via fiber optic cable).

DSS -55

The antenna DSS - 55 Type: Beam Waveguide (BWG) was commissioned in 2003 and has a diameter of 34 meters. You can with a transmitter power of 20 kW send the X-band and receive on the bands S, X and K. The weight of the DSS 55 is 348 tons and was designed for wind load of 160 km / hr. The design of the DSS -55 allows safe measurement up to wind speeds of 64 km / h

Missions

  • Lunar Orbiter
  • Apollo 11
  • Viking
  • Spirit
  • Venus Express
  • Cassini -Huygens
  • Voyager 1
  • Voyager 2
  • Pioneer 10
  • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Frequency ranges

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