Picture Album of the
DEEP SPACE NETWORK

The Apollo Program and the Deep Space Network

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To support the Apollo manned lunar-landing program while spacecraft were in the vicinity of the Moon, NASA's Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) installed 26-meter antennas at Goldstone; Honeysuckle Creek, Australia; and Fresnedillas, Spain. These sites were near the DSN stations at Goldstone (DSS 11), Tidbinbilla (DSS 42), and Robledo de Chavela (DSS 61). MSFN wings (control rooms) were also added to these DSN stations to allow them to function as complete MSFN stations.

For all six stations, JPL developed, and Motorola and Westinghouse manufactured, the Unified S-Band Receiver/Exciter/Ranging System. This system provided a clear communications channel for voice and data from the spacecraft to the stations, in contrast to the noisy communications link with the previous Mercury and Gemini manned spacecraft. The dual sets of stations were needed because of the narrow beam width of the antennas at S-band when the Apollo spacecraft were near the Moon - one antenna covered the orbiting command and service module, and the other the lunar module on the surface of the Moon. In addition, NASA used the Goldstone 64-meter antenna (DSS 14) and the CSIRO radio telescope at Parkes, Australia, for reception of television and other data transmissions.

During the Apollo period (1967-1972), these MSFN and DSN stations supported (1) the first manned orbital mission around the Moon (Apollo 8); (2) the manned landing on the surface of the Moon (Apollo 11); (3) the first operation of a ground vehicle on the lunar surface (Apollo 15), and (4) various scientific investigations. After supporting the very complex Skylab missions in 1973 and 74, the MSFN stations were transferred to the DSN, which used them to support various space-probe and high-altitude-satellite missions. In 1985, the antenna at Honeysuckle Creek (upper photo) was moved to Tidbinbilla and the antenna at Fresnedillas (left photo) was moved to Robledo (right photo). The Apollo antenna at Goldstone remains at its original site (lower photo).

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