IMAGE GALLERY:
Canberra Complex
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Groundwork Commencing on New Antennas at Canberra
Construction commences on a roadway that will lead to two new 34-meter-wide antennas at the Deep Space Network communications complex near Canberra, Australia.
The construction of the new 34-meter "beam wave guide" antennas was announced in February 2010 during celebrations marking 50 years of the U.S. - Australian partnership in space exploration activities. They will be named Deep Space Stations 35 and 36 and are the first antennas to be built as part of a campaign to eventually replace the aging workhorse 70-meter-wide antennas.
Deep Space Station 35 is due to be completed in 2014 and Deep Space Station 36 is expected to come online in 2016.
In the background of this image is a 34-meter-wide antenna known as Deep Space Station 45. It is an older "high-efficiency" antenna, not one of the new beam wave guides.
This image was taken on June 26, 2010.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/CDSCC
