Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex
Goldstone would like to announce that the NASA Goldstone Visitor Center located in Barstow at the Historic Harvey House is now OPEN Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9:00am-3:00pm and Saturdays from 10:00am-4:00pm. Please note that there is no entry fee and reservations are not required to visit the Visitor Center.
News and Announcements
DSN – Follow the Sun | NASA’s The Invisible Network Podcast
Please check out this episode of The Invisible Network Podcast that features our very own Bob Haroldson from Goldstone!
How Do We Communicate with Faraway Spacecraft?
How Do We Communicate with Faraway Spacecraft?
When scientists and engineers want to send commands to a spacecraft in deep space, they turn to the Deep Space Network, NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas used to communicate with spacecraft at the Moon and beyond. Operators at the Deep Space Network take commands, break them into digital bits, precisely aim these big antennas at the spacecraft, and send the commands to the spacecraft using radio waves.
The antennas of NASA’s Deep Space Network are the indispensable link to robotic explorers venturing beyond Earth. They provide the crucial connection for commanding our spacecraft and receiving their never-before-seen images and scientific information on Earth, propelling our understanding of the universe, our solar system and ultimately, our place within it. Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program, based at NASA Headquarters within the Space Operations Mission Directorate, the Deep Space Network is what enables missions to track, send commands to, and receive scientific data from faraway spacecraft.
Learn more about the DSN at go.nasa.gov/about-dsn
About Goldstone
Goldstone is one of three complexes around the world known as the Deep Space Network (DSN) established to provide the ability to communicate with spacecraft; not only in orbit around the earth, but also in the farther reaches of our solar system. The Deep Space Network complexes, placed 120° apart, provide constant communication with spacecraft as the Earth rotates. In determining the exact position for the site in California, a remote location, free from radio signal interference, was needed. The remote location of the Mojave Desert in California, near the old mining town of Goldstone, was determined to be an optimal location and in 1958 the first antenna was built. Facilities near Madrid, Spain and Canberra, Australia complete the Deep Space Network providing 360 degree coverage for spacecraft tracking.
For over half a century the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC) has provided a vital communications link for NASA/JPL manned and unmanned spacecraft. Fifty years of space exploration has seen many milestones in both robotic and manned spacecraft. From the first planetary encounters, the first human landing on the moon, to missions that reach the farthest points in our solar system, the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex has been there to bring home the critical data, images, or science.
As missions meet new milestones in the 21st century, the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex as part of the Deep Space Network will continue to meet NASA’s vision for space exploration.
Goldstone Map
