JPL scientists used NASA's 70 - meter (230 - foot) antenna at NASA's Goldstone Deep
Space Communications Complex in California to send out a powerful beam of microwaves directed toward the moon.
Digital design experience with a leading industry in the area
of space communications with emphasis in FPGA Design and Hardware Design
As NASA and other agencies look for ways to bolster their existing deep
space communications relays, commercial companies may be in the best position to provide a viable solution.
Because they are the only deep
space communication service available to US - based space companies, access to NASA's DSN is prioritized to government - funded missions, or missions of national interest (as determined by NASA).
The deep
space communications technologies that ATLAS is developing will first be deployed on the Moon in partnership with Astrobotic, but they can then be extrapolated for deeper space connectivity.
As well as medical imaging and airport security scanning, masers could play a pivotal role in improving sensors to remotely detect bombs, new technology for quantum computers, and might even
improve space communication methods to potentially find life on other planets.
She has a degree in physics with astrophysics from the University of Leicester, UK, and previously worked in the education and
space communications departments of the UK's National Space Centre.
Their goal is to test new miniaturized deep
space communication equipment and, if the MarCOs make it to Mars, may relay back InSight data as it enters the Martian atmosphere and lands.
Until recently, deep
space communications relays have been largely left to NASA's legacy ground networks and extant radio frequency (RF) terminals, which have a limited capacity.
As NASA soars into space beyond Earth orbit once more, a legacy
of space communications that began at Goddard more than 50 years ago continues.
They used the giant 70 - meter (230 - foot) dish at Goldstone
Deep Space Communications Complex as the transmitter and the 26 antennas of the Very Large Array as the receiver.
In order to support the anticipated increase in spacefaring vessels, the infrastructure facilitating deep
space communications must also be improved.
Many of these exciting advances, however, rely upon a key infrastructural component that has yet to receive the same level of media coverage: in -
space communications.
Barry Geldzahler, chief scientist and chief technologist for NASA's
Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Program, who also provided additional funding for this project, saw the benefits this technology could bring to NASA early on.
The Space Communications and Navigation Program office is located at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Because of this, future exploration missions will use all three of NASA's
space communication's networks at various times during the mission.
Improvements in how densely spheres and other shapes can be packed together could lead to advances in materials science, deep
space communication and theoretical physics.
The last signals from Cassini space probe before it burns up in Saturn's atmosphere will tracked by the Canberra Deep
Space Communication Complex.
To find probes located 237,000 miles (380,000 km) away, the they used the 70 - meter antenna at the NASA Goldstone Deep
Space Communications Complex in California's Mojave Desert.
«Applications address everything from astronomy and Earth observing to deep -
space communications.»
Mr. Marina successfully tested the software and hardware on Goldstone Observatory's 70 meter antenna before delivering it to the Canberra and Madrid Deep
Space Communication Complexes for use in their 70 meter antennas.