
Deep Space Network Now: Status of communications with our deep space explorers - CaliforniaKarl
https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/
======
Amorymeltzer
The latest episode of the Off-Nominal podcast[1] had a great interview with
Shannon Stirone[2] all about DSN. They go into just how critical the
infrastructure is, how little support it gets, and just the insane level of
planning required for any planetary mission. Definitely worth a listen. See
also Stirone's longread[3] about the DSN.

1: [http://offnominal.space/10](http://offnominal.space/10)

2: [https://twitter.com/shannonmstirone](https://twitter.com/shannonmstirone)

3: [https://longreads.com/2018/03/15/welcome-to-the-center-of-
th...](https://longreads.com/2018/03/15/welcome-to-the-center-of-the-
universe/)

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tjohns
The thing I find really impressive is how weak the signals are.

From that page, the downlink from New Horizons is currently 1.89kbps at
-143.72 dBm (4.25 x 10-21 kW). That's 0.00000000000000000425 W. Not a lot of
signal to work with there, but the DSN is still able to extract a usable
carrier. Amazing.

~~~
sizzzzlerz
The capability to dig such a weak signal out of the noise is, indeed, a
remarkable feat. I also think the ability to orient the spacecraft to point
the antenna at where the earth is from a distance of a couple billion miles is
pretty amazing. Obviously, a signal is going to spread a great deal over those
distances but its still important to be close. I'd be curious to know how far
off the pointing is from Voyager distance from boresight.

~~~
sizzzzlerz
Actually, thinking about this, I made a mistake. Voyager isn't pointing its
antenna at earth at that instant. It's actually pointing it to where the earth
WILL be in 16 to 20 hours. Technically, that is probably no more difficult but
my statement is more accurate.

~~~
planteen
Found this saying Voyager has a pointing accuracy of 0.1 degrees:
[https://www.quora.com/How-precise-are-spacecrafts-like-
New-H...](https://www.quora.com/How-precise-are-spacecrafts-like-New-Horizons-
Voyager-I-and-Voyager-II-able-to-point-their-antenna-towards-Earth)

From the distance of Voyager, I doubt it makes any difference where Earth is
for pointing the antenna. As in, it is pointing to the same spot no matter the
day or season. They probably dial in an inertial coordinate and that is it.

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misterS
Dave Jones of EEVBlog has a nice series of videos talking to Richard
Stephenson, Operations Supervisor at the DSN's Canberra site.

How To Contact The Voyager 2 Probe:

Part 1:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRP1qdwPKw&list=PLdytWBxFfp...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRP1qdwPKw&list=PLdytWBxFfp36NwOTIiidVIrjuJU_UqJ_R&index=3)

Part 2:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rCrfQUcXDI&list=PLdytWBxFfp...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rCrfQUcXDI&list=PLdytWBxFfp36NwOTIiidVIrjuJU_UqJ_R&index=2)

Part 3:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP_hleOXTaU&list=PLdytWBxFfp...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP_hleOXTaU&list=PLdytWBxFfp36NwOTIiidVIrjuJU_UqJ_R&index=4)

(the playlist is a mess, and videos are unordered)

There are also a couple of Behinde the Scenes videos.

~~~
dylan604
I'm about 15 mins into the first video, and I want to buy the camera guy a new
taller tripod. I feel like I am a small child having to look up at the
speaker.

Getting past that, it's a cool interview. Thanks for these links.

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jvanderbot
From what I can tell, this is an exact replica of what's displayed in the
spaceflight operations facility in JPL.

The direction, speed, and density of waves are indicative of the direction,
data rate, and data volume of the tx/rx from deep space missions.

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cafecafe
Recently I read a wonderful review paper about some of the problems engineers
faced with early space communication.

It's really amazing how fast things moved back then. From 1954 to 1962 they
went from using the moon as a relay satellite to having Telstar in orbit,
which was capable of live trans-atlantic TV broadcasts.

The paper was featured on Fermat's Library, it's a great read ->
[https://fermatslibrary.com/s/satellite-communication---an-
ov...](https://fermatslibrary.com/s/satellite-communication---an-overview-of-
the-problems-and-programs)

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madengr
It’s neat to look at, for example, Voyager and see the antenna azimuth track
in real-time to compensate for Earth rotation.

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ReedJessen
What is the reason that "Wind Speed" is tracked and provided on this website.
What does wind speed interact with communication between these antennas and
the spacecraft?

~~~
perilunar
It's hard to point a big dish accurately if the wind is too strong. They have
wind limits above which they stow the dishes (by pointing them straight up to
reduce the wind profile).

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dingo_bat
NASA has truly achieved some ridiculous feats. I hope that we see more of this
in the future.

~~~
TeMPOraL
As they say - where there's a will, and funding for the willing, there's a
way.

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jsjohnst
Watching YouTube from the New Horizon space craft would really suck. It’s
11.5hr round trip latency and the bandwidth is way worse than dialup!

