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Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex

 
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Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex
 
 
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The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) —commonly called the Goldstone Observatory— is located in California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
's Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert , , locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, in the United States....
 (USA). Operated by ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation

ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company with 2007 revenues of $9.0 billion. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control....
 for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a List of federally funded research and development centers and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, California, United States....
, its main purpose is to track and communicate with space missions. It includes the Pioneer Deep Space Station, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, :wiktionary:site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States for its historical significance....
. The current observatory
Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
 is part of NASA's Deep Space Network
Deep Space Network

The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is an international Wiktionary:network of communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, and radio astronomy and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe....
. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is just one of three in the world; the others being the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex
Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex

The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex is a ground station located in Robledo de Chavela, Spain, and operated by Ingenieria y Servicios Aeroespaciales, S.A....
  and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is a ground station that is located in Australia at Tidbinbilla in the Paddys River valley, about half an hour's drive out of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory....
.

stone antennas have also been used as sensitive radio telescope
Radio telescope

A radio telescope is a form of Directional antennae radio Antenna used in radio astronomy and in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes....
s for such scientific investigations as: mapping quasar
Quasar

A Quasi-stellar radio source is a powerfully energetic and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasars were first identified as being high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio frequency and visible spectrum, that were point-like, similar to stars, rather than extended sources similar to galaxy....
s and other celestial radio sources; radar mapping planet
Planet

A planet , as 2006 definition of planet by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting a star or Stellar evolution#Stellar remnants that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared the neighbourhood of planetesimals....
s, the Moon
Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
, comet
Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
s and asteroid
Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
s; spotting comets and asteroids with the potential to impact earth; and the search for ultra-high energy neutrino
Neutrino

Neutrinos are elementary particles that travel close to the speed of light, lack an electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed and are thus extremely difficult to detect....
 interactions in the moon by using large-aperture radio antennas.


s commonly believed that the first US satellite, Explorer I
Explorer I

Explorer 1 was the first Earth satellite of the United States, launched on February 1, 1958 at 03:48 Coordinated Universal Time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 26 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as part of the United States program for the International Geophysical Year and in response to the launch of the Soviet Uni...
, was confirmed to be in orbit by the use of the phrase "Goldstone has the bird".






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Encyclopedia


The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) —commonly called the Goldstone Observatory— is located in California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
's Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert , , locally referred to as the High Desert, occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, and northwestern Arizona, in the United States....
 (USA). Operated by ITT Corporation
ITT Corporation

ITT Corporation is a global diversified manufacturing company with 2007 revenues of $9.0 billion. ITT participates in global markets including water and fluids management, defense and security, and motion and flow control....
 for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a List of federally funded research and development centers and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, California, United States....
, its main purpose is to track and communicate with space missions. It includes the Pioneer Deep Space Station, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, :wiktionary:site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States for its historical significance....
. The current observatory
Observatory

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed....
 is part of NASA's Deep Space Network
Deep Space Network

The Deep Space Network, or DSN, is an international Wiktionary:network of communication facilities that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, and radio astronomy and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe....
. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is just one of three in the world; the others being the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex
Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex

The Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex is a ground station located in Robledo de Chavela, Spain, and operated by Ingenieria y Servicios Aeroespaciales, S.A....
  and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex is a ground station that is located in Australia at Tidbinbilla in the Paddys River valley, about half an hour's drive out of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory....
.

Antennas

Goldstone antennas have also been used as sensitive radio telescope
Radio telescope

A radio telescope is a form of Directional antennae radio Antenna used in radio astronomy and in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes....
s for such scientific investigations as: mapping quasar
Quasar

A Quasi-stellar radio source is a powerfully energetic and distant active galactic nucleus. Quasars were first identified as being high redshift sources of electromagnetic energy, including radio frequency and visible spectrum, that were point-like, similar to stars, rather than extended sources similar to galaxy....
s and other celestial radio sources; radar mapping planet
Planet

A planet , as 2006 definition of planet by the International Astronomical Union , is a celestial body orbiting a star or Stellar evolution#Stellar remnants that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared the neighbourhood of planetesimals....
s, the Moon
Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the List of natural satellites by diameter satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth....
, comet
Comet

A comet is a Small Solar System body that orbits the Sun and, when close enough to the Sun, exhibits a visible coma or a tail?both primarily from the effects of solar radiation upon the Comet nucleus....
s and asteroid
Asteroid

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, smaller than planets but larger than meteoroids....
s; spotting comets and asteroids with the potential to impact earth; and the search for ultra-high energy neutrino
Neutrino

Neutrinos are elementary particles that travel close to the speed of light, lack an electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost undisturbed and are thus extremely difficult to detect....
 interactions in the moon by using large-aperture radio antennas.

Goldstone Dsn Antenna

"Goldstone has the bird"

It is commonly believed that the first US satellite, Explorer I
Explorer I

Explorer 1 was the first Earth satellite of the United States, launched on February 1, 1958 at 03:48 Coordinated Universal Time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 26 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as part of the United States program for the International Geophysical Year and in response to the launch of the Soviet Uni...
, was confirmed to be in orbit by the use of the phrase "Goldstone has the bird". However, Goldstone was not in operation at the time of Explorer I, and that phrase probably referred to an early Pioneer program
Pioneer program

The Pioneer program is a series of United States unmanned space missions that was designed for planetary exploration. There were a number of such missions in the program, but the most notable were Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11, which explored the outer planets and left the solar system....
 spacecraft.

Commemoration

The Pioneer Deep Space Station was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, :wiktionary:site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States for its historical significance....
 in 1985.

Complex Tours

The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex conducts tours of it's facility and museum to middle and high schools as well as individuals interested in visiting.

Wildlife

While most desert creatures are essentially harmless to man, there are several poisonous snakes and arthropods that everyone should look out for. Be especially wary during the summer and autumn months of the Sidewinder and Mojave rattlesnakes. In addition to the snakes, you may find any of the following wildlife while on the facility: Deer Mouse, Cactus Mouse, Mojave Rattlesnake, Sidewinder, Gopher Snake, Desert Tortoise, Whiptail Lizard, Horned Lizard, California Quail, Rock Pigeon, Burrowing Owl, Humingbird, Rock Wren, Blister Beatle, Desert Tarantula, Tarantula Hawk Wasp, And Many Other Insects, Reptiles And Birds.

See also


  • List of radio telescopes
    List of radio telescopes

    This is a list of radio telescopes that are or have been used for radio astronomy. It includes both single dishes and interferometric arrays. They are listed by region, then by name; unnamed telescopes are in reverse size order at the end of the lists....
  • Apollo program missing tapes
    Apollo program missing tapes

    The Apollo missing tapes are the missing original recordings of the transmissions broadcast during the Apollo 11 Extra-vehicular activity. The tapes included Slow-scan television and telemetry data....


External links