Thanks in part to the great Aussie movie ‘The Dish’, we know that Australia plays an integral role in NASA’s space communication operations.
Yesterday, along with CSIRO, NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration and U.S. Embassy Canberra representatives, I had the absolute honour of opening the DSS36 antenna at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) at Tidbinbilla – the final piece of the Deep Space Network Aperture Enhancement Project.
As well as supporting current missions, DSS36 will also provide support for the anticipated growth in deep space missions to be launched over the coming decade.
The new antenna will also play an important part in NASA’s ‘Journey to Mars’ by providing two-way communication capacity for human and robotic missions, which will enable science, tracking and command data to be sent back and forth from Earth.
