NASA’s Deep Space Network turns 60

Started in 1963, the DSN is what makes it possible for NASA to communicate with spacecrafts further away from the moon

FILE PHOTO: NASA’s telecommunications network and navigation system, Deep Space Network, celebrated its 60th anniversary on December 24. | Photo Credit: NASA

NASA’s telecommunications network and navigation system, Deep Space Network, celebrated its 60th anniversary on December 24. Started in 1963, the DSN is what makes it possible for NASA to communicate with spacecrafts further away from the moon.

Historic events that happened in 2023 including the images captured by the James Webb telescope, the scientific data sent back from the Perseverance rover on Mars and the images of the South side of the moon from the Artemis I mission, were possible because of the DSN’s large radio dish antennas.

The DSN also supported ISRO during India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission in late August this year.

“The DSN is the heart of NASA – it has the vital job of keeping the data flowing between Earth and space. But to support our growing portfolio of robotic missions, and now the human Artemis missions to the Moon, we need to push forward with the next phase of DSN modernization,” said Philip Baldwin, the acting director of the network services division for SCaN at the NASA headquarters in Washington.

NASA has been enhancing the DSN’s capacity by adding more dish antennas and upgrading the technology to support more spacecrafts and transfer more data from outer space.

One of these new methods is laser or optical communications which could send more data from longer distances.

• NASA’s telecommunications network and navigation system, Deep Space Network, celebrated its 60th anniversary on December 24. 
• Started in 1963, the DSN is what makes it possible for NASA to communicate with spacecrafts further away from the moon.
• The DSN also supported ISRO during India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission in late August this year.