Pluton (1980s – ''Pluton-M'') is a system of deep space communications and planetary radar in

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

. It was built in the Deep-Space Communication Center area Eighty-Fifth Radiotechnical Center of Distance Communications with Space Objects; ( uk, 85 радіотехнічний центр телекомунікації з космічними об'єктами); (russian: 85 радиотехнический центр дальней связи с космическими объектами); near

Yevpatoria Yevpatoria ( uk, Євпаторія, Yevpatoriia; russian: Евпатория, Yevpatoriya; crh, , , gr, Ευπατορία) is a city of regional significance in Western Crimea, north of Kalamita Bay. Yevpatoria serves as the administrative ...

in 1960, and consists of at least three antennas. Three of them are of the ADU-1000 design, an assembly of eight reflector antennas, each with diameter of 16 metres. At the North Station, two receiving antennas were built, and a transmitter was constructed 8.5 kilometres away at the South Station.Don P. Mitchel
Soviet Telemetry Systems. Deep-Space Communication Centers.
/ref> Each receiving dish has a Cassegrain system with subreflectors mounted on quadrapods in front of the dishes. The dishes were welded onto the hulls of two diesel submarines and laid down onto railway bridge trusses. The ADU-1000 antennas were mounted onto steerable frames constructed from battleship gun turrets and railway bridge trusses. The Pluton complex supported all the Soviet space programs until 1978, when the

Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope The Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope (P-2500, RT-70) is an RT-70 radio telescope and planetary radar at the Center for Deep Space Communications, Yevpatoria, Crimea. In the scientific literature is often called Evpatoria Planetary Radar (EPR). ...

was built, then the Pluton became a backup system for the RT-70. The Pluton complex was the world's highest capacity deep space communication system prior to Goldstone in 1966. In 1961 it performed one of the world's first

radar detection A radar detector is an electronic device used by motorists to detect if their speed is being monitored by police or law enforcement using a radar gun. Most radar detectors are used so the driver can reduce the car's speed before being ticketed ...

of the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. In June 1962 it performed the world's first successful

of the planet

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

. In February 1963 it performed successful

of the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. In September–October 1963 it performed successful

of the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

. On the 19th and the 24th of November 1962, the words «

MIR ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

», «

LENIN Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

», and « SSSR» were sent in the direction of the star HD131336 in the constellation

Libra Libra generally refers to: * Libra (constellation), a constellation * Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation Libra may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo Musi ...

. These messages (

The Morse Message (1962) The Morse Message was a series of brief radio messages in Morse code that were transmitted from the Evpatoria Planetary Radar (EPR) complex and directed to the planet Venus in 1962. The message consisted of three words, all encoded in Morse cod ...

) are the first radio broadcasts for extraterrestrial civilizations in the history of mankind. The first Westerner to visit the site was British radio astronomer Bernard Lovell, the Director of the

Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank Observatory () in Cheshire, England, hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio astro ...

. In 2009, Lovell told ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' that he had developed radiation sickness after the 1963 visit, which he believed was a deliberate attempt by the Soviet authorities, who knew Jodrell Bank was part of the British early-warning system, to assassinate him. Sometime around November 11, 2013, one (transmitter) of the three antennas was dismantled.

Missions

As Deep space communication system: *

Venera The Venera (, , which means "Venus" in Russian) program was the name given to a series of space probes developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather information about the planet Venus. Ten probes successfully landed on the s ...

-1,-2,-3,-4,-5,-6.-7.-9,-10,-11,-12 *

-2,-3,-4,-5,-6,-7 * 1995–2000 – Interball-1 * November 16, 1996 –

Mars 96 Mars 96 (sometimes called Mars-8) was a failed Mars mission launched in 1996 to investigate Mars by the Russian Space Forces and not directly related to the Soviet Mars probe program of the same name. After failure of the second fourth-stage bu ...

. As Planetary radar: * 1961 April 18 and 26 – radiolocation of the planet

. However the initial value of the AU deduced, and the time for the planet to rotate, were incorrect. These were later corrected to agree with other groups. * June 1962, after increasing the sensitivity of the receiving equipment – the world's first radiolocation of the planet

. * October–November 1962 – second radar study of

. * February 1963 – radiolocation of the planet

. * September–October 1963 – radiolocation of the planet

. Radio Astronomy: * April 1964 – study Crab Nebula * 2004 – study

coronal hole A coronal hole is a temporary region of relatively cool, less dense plasma in the solar corona where the Sun's magnetic field extends into interplanetary space as an open field.Freedman, Roger A., and William J. Kaufmann III. "Our Star, the Sun. ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

National Space Facilities Control and Testing Center, Yevpatoria
Radio telescopes Deep Space Network Astronomical observatories built in the Soviet Union Soviet and Russian space program locations Space program of the Soviet Union Buildings and structures in Crimea 1960 establishments in the Soviet Union