The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is a satellite communication station, part of the Deep Space Network of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

(JPL), located at Tidbinbilla in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...

. Opened in 1965, the complex was used for tracking the

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, and along with its two sister stations at

Goldstone, California The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), commonly called the Goldstone Observatory, is a satellite ground station located in Fort Irwin in the U.S. state of California. Operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), its m ...

and Madrid, Spain is now used for tracking and communicating with NASA's spacecraft, particularly interplanetary missions. Its DSS-43 antenna is the only antenna on Earth that can send commands to

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. It is managed in Australia by the

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(CSIRO) for NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation program (SCaN) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Location

The complex is located in the Paddys River (a tributary of the Cotter River) valley, about 20 km from

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

in the

. The complex is part of the Deep Space Network run by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It is commonly referred to as the Tidbinbilla Deep Space Tracking Station and was officially opened on 19 March 1965 by then

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the federal government of Australia and is also accountable to federal parliament under the princip ...

Sir Robert Menzies. The station is separated from Canberra by the Murrumbidgee River and, more importantly, the Coolamon Ridge, Urambi Hills, and Bullen Range, which help shield the dishes from the city's

radio frequency Radio frequency (RF) is the oscillation rate of an alternating electric current or voltage or of a magnetic, electric or electromagnetic field or mechanical system in the frequency range from around to around . This is roughly between the up ...

(RF) noise. Located nearby is the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

Management

The CSIRO manages most of NASA's activities in Australia. In February 2010 CSIRO took over direct management of the site with the establishment of CASS (CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science). Previous to this CDSCC had been managed by external sub-contractor organisations, such as Raytheon Australia from 2003–2010;

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(formerly British Aerospace Australia) 1990–2003; AWA Electronic Services -1990.

History

During the mid 1960s NASA built three tracking stations in the Australian Capital Territory. *The Tidbinbilla Tracking Station (now known as CDSCC) was opened in 1965 and is the only NASA tracking station in Australia still in operation. During the

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program, Tidbinbilla was used for tracking the

. *The Orroral Valley Tracking Station () was opened in May 1965 in what is now part of Namadgi National Park. Its role was orbiting satellite support, although it also supported the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975. It was closed in 1985. * Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station () opened in 1967 and was built primarily to support the Apollo Moon missions, mainly communications with the Apollo Command Module. After the cancellation of the Apollo Project the station supported

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations ...

until its re-entry in 1979 when the station joined the Deep Space Network in support of the Viking and Voyager projects. 1981 saw the closure of the station and its 26 m antenna was moved to CDSCC to become known as Deep Space Station 46. After the antenna was removed the rest of the facility was dismantled and knocked down. Its foundation, access road and parking area are all that remains of the facility.

Antennas

As of late 2016 the station has five large antennas, called Deep Space Stations (DSS), each identified by a number: DSS-34, DSS-35, DSS-36, DSS-43, and DSS-45. The CDSCC also uses the

Parkes radio telescope Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a rad ...

in central

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at busy times to receive data from

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, ...

(then designated DSS-49). There has been ongoing construction since 2010 building additional 34 m beam waveguide antenna. Construction of DSS-35 began in July 2010. The station's collimation tower is located approximately 3 km to the north-west, on Black Hill.

Funding

CDSCC costs about per year to run, and is funded by NASA.

References

External links

Partners in space: CSIRO and NASA - video

Official CDSCC Webpage

Official CSIRO pages

Tidbinbilla Tracking Station tribute site

Honeysuckle Creek tribute siteNASA's GRO Remote Terminal System Installed at Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
{{Authority control Earth stations in the Australian Capital Territory Space programme of Australia Deep Space Network 1965 establishments in Australia CSIRO NASA facilities in Australia