The Deep Space Network first existed as just a few small antennas as
part of the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility. That facility,
originally operated by the U.S. Army in the 1950s, morphed into the Deep
Space Network on Dec. 24, 1963, and quickly became the de facto network
for missions into deep space.
During its first year of operation, the network communicated with
three spacecraft - Mariner 2, IMP-A and Atlas Centaur 2. Today, it
communicates with 33 via three antenna complexes in Goldstone, Calif.;
near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia, maintaining
round-the-clock coverage of the solar system.
During the past 50 years, antennas of the Deep Space Network have
communicated with most of the missions that have gone to the moon and
far into deep space. The highlights include relaying the moment when
astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon in a
"giant leap for mankind"; transmitting data from numerous encounters
with the outer planets of our solar system; communicating images taken
by rovers exploring Mars; and relaying the data confirming that NASA's
Voyager 1 spacecraft had entered interstellar space.
Space agencies in Europe, Japan and Russia have also relied on the
Deep Space Network when planning and communicating with their own
missions over the decades. The Deep Space Network has been used recently
by India's first interplanetary probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Deep Space Network for NASA.
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