Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC)
Organization	CSIRO / NASA / JPL
Location	Tidbinbilla, Australian Capital Territory
Coordinates
Altitude	550 m
Established	19 March 1965
Website	www.cdscc.nasa.gov

70m telescope at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is a ground station that is located in Australia at Tidbinbilla in the Paddys River (a tributory of the Cotter River) valley, about 20 km from Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. 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 the then Prime Minister of Australia Sir Robert Menzies.

The station is separated from Canberra by the Murrumbidgee River, but most notably by the Coolamon Ridge and Urambi Hills, but mainly by Bullen Range, that help shield the city's radio frequency (RF) noise from the dishes. Located nearby is the Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.

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.

History

Tidbinbilla Locality Map, the site is marked with the red star.

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 Apollo program, Tidbinbilla was used for tracking the Apollo Lunar Module.

• 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 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 2014 the Station has four large antennas in use: DSS-34, DSS-35, DSS-43, and DSS-45. The CDSCC also uses the Parkes radio telescope in central New South Wales at busy times to receive data from spacecraft. There is ongoing construction to build an additional 34 m beam waveguide antenna by 2017. 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.

Photo	Designation	Status	Main aperture	Notes
	DSS-33	Decommissioned	11m	A small A/E antenna which was decommissioned for DSN use in 2002 and moved to Norway in 2009 to be used for atmospheric research.
	DSS-34	Active	34m	Beam waveguide antenna, uses a system of radio frequency mirrors to place the receiving and transmitting hardware underground rather than on top of the dish. Built in 1997.
	DSS-35	Active	34m	Operational in late 2014 and officially opened in March 2015.
	DSS-36	Under construction	34m	Dish installed in August 2015, and expected to be operational in 2016.
	DSS-42	Decommissioned	34m	Decommissioned in 2000 and dismantled shortly after. This was an "hour angle declination" antenna and was the original antenna constructed at the complex.
	DSS-43	Active	70m	Originally constructed as a 64 m dish in 1973 and enlarged in 1987. It is the largest steerable parabolic antenna in the Southern Hemisphere. The antenna weighs more than 3000 tonnes and rotates on a film of oil approximately 0.17mm thick. The reflector surface is made up of 1,272 aluminium panels with a total surface area of 4,180 square metres.
	DSS-45	Active	34m	Built in 1986.
	DSS-44 DSS-46	Decommissioned	26m	Originally built as DSS-44 in 1967 and located at Honeysuckle Creek, it was moved in 1984 and reassigned DSS-46. It was decommissioned in late 2009. In May 2010 the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics declared the antenna a Historical Aerospace Site.
	DSS-49	Active	64m	Parkes radio telescope Capable of linking in to provide support, however is incapable of transmitting (this is a receiver only).

Funding

CDSCC costs about A$20 million per year to run, and is funded by NASA.

See also

• Carnarvon Tracking Station
• OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon
• Parkes Observatory

External links

• Partners in space: CSIRO and NASA - video
• Official CDSCC Webpage
• Official CSIRO pages
• Tidbinbilla Tracking Station tribute site
• Honeysuckle Creek tribute site