Picture Album of the
DEEP SPACE NETWORK

Night View of the Antenna at the Pioneer Station, Goldstone, California

NOTE: Click on the image to view it at its highest resolution.

Because most of the targets of the solar system move in orbits near the ecliptic plane (inclined 23-1/2 degrees to the equatorial plane), their declinations, and, thus, those of the probe sent to explore them, generally range from ± 30 degrees. Ground-based antennas for communications with the probes, therefore, have nominal requirements of movement in declination and must move in hour angle at a rate essentially equal to that of Earth's rotation. The Pioneer Station's antenna, shown above during nighttime, was active from 1958 to 1981. It was designated a national monument by the Department of the Interior on December 27, 1985.

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