Space Tracking

8/7/2019 Space Tracking

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SPACEtI


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PARTICIPANTS

The Honorable Lyndon B , JohnsonV i c e President of the United States of AmericaChairman, Na tio na l Aeronautics and Space Counc il

The Honorable Dean RuskSecretary of S t a t e

M r , James E . Webb, AdministratorNational Aeronautics and Space Administration

D r . Harry Goett, D i r e c t o rGoddard Space Flight Center

Commander Walter M . Schirra, Jr.Astronaut.

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GUESTS OF

H , E . Dr. R o b e r t o T, A l e m a n nH. E, The H o n , S i r H o w a r d B e a l e ,

K,B,E, , QeC .H, E, R o b e r t o de O l i v e i r a CamposH. E. C h a r l e s S, A. R i t c h i eH , E, Walter M u l l e rH , E, D r , N e f t a l i Ponce-MirandaH. E, The R i g h t Son, S i r D a v i dO n n s b y G o r e , K ,C ,M .G ,

H. E, B r a ] K u m a r N e h r u

H , E, H o s s e i n G h o d s - M a k h a iH . E. K o i c h i r o A s a k a iH, E, A n t o n i o C a r r i l l o FloresH , E, D r , J. H e r m a n van R o i j e nH, E. J u l i u s M. U d o c h iH , E, Fernando B e r c k e m e y e r

HONOR

T h e Argentine R e p u b l i c

A u s t r a1 aT h e U n i t e d S t a t e s of B r a z i lC a n a d aThe R e p u b l i c of C h i l eThe R e p u b l i c of E c u a d o rThe U n i t e d K i n g d o m of G r e a t

B r i t a i n and N o r t h e r nI re land

I n d i aIranJapanThe U n i t e d Mexican S t a t e sThe N e t h e r l a n d sT h e F ede ra t i on of N i g e r i aThe R e p u b l i c of PeruThe R e p u b l i c of South A f r i cPI-:...a p C l - L 1 1

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PROGRAM

F I F T H A N N I V E R S A R Y

I N T E R N A T I O N A L TRACKING OF SPACE VEHICLES

D r . H a r r y Goett, D i r e c t o rGoddard Space F l i g h t C e n t e r

M r . James E. W e b b , A d m i n i s t r a t o rN a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s and Space A d m i n i s t r a t i o n

T h e H o n o r a b l e D e a n RuskS e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e

C o m m a n d e r Walter M. S c h i r r a , J r .A s t r o n a u t

The H o n o r a b l e Lyndon B. JohnsonV i c e P r e s i d e n t of t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s of America

C h a i r m a n , K a t i o n a l A e r o n a u t i c s and Space C o u n c i l

J a n u a ry 31, 1963


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G-

U. S . SPACE - TkRCF2L:;FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

The t r a c k i n g s t a t i o n n etw ork was a c t i v a t e d t o t r a c kEx p l o r e r I, l aunched January 31, 1958 , The network includedM i n i t ra c k s t a t i o n s l o c a t e d p r i m a r i l y i n t h e We ste rn H em isph ere .S in c e t h a t t i m e , o th er ne tworks have been added t o form a t r u l yworld-wide t r a ck in g network and d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n system f o rs a t e l l i t e s a nd s p ac e p ro be s ,

These ne tw o rk s p r e sen t a u ni q u e o p p o r t u n i t y f o r co n t r i b u -t i o n s t o t h e p a t t e r n o f o pen c o o p e r a t i o n and t h e sp r ead of i n -t e r e s t and competence i n space res ea rch , NASA h a s 27 o v e r s e a s

f a c i l i t i e s i n 1 9 d i f f e r e n t p o l i t i c a l a r e a s. About tw o-th irG sof them a l r e a d y o p e r a t e w it h t h e a s s i s t a n c e of f o r e i g n n a t i o n-a l s , T h e c o s t of o p e r a t i n g s e v e r a l of t h e NASA n e t w o r k s t a t i o ni s l a r g e l y b o r n e b y t h e c o o p e r a ti n g n a t i o n s , Each ne tw ork i ss p e c i f i c a l l y d e sig ne d t o f u l f i l l t h e re qu ir em en ts p a r t i c u l a rt o each of t h e major programs.

1, T h e M i n it ra c k n etw ork, e s t a b l i s h e d d u r i n g t h e I n t e r ---~-:---i- ~ - k . . - ; - - i v..-.- tr3,- Lc a = t a f ~ ~ n c m i f t pf r o m unmanned s c i e n t i f i c s a t e l l i t e s s u ch a s V anguard, E x p lo r e r,O r b i t i n g S o l a r O b se r v a t o r y , e t c . T h er e a r e e i g h t M i n i tr a c k

J I a L A U i ~ a ~F v y r L y G ? & b n A ZLUL , \ ~ LUC * LY L - L I I - ~ U - A - - - Y ---I- - - - - - . . - - - - -

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S t a t i o n s i n s even p o l i t i c a l a r e a s ,2 . The D e e p Space Ins t rumenta t ion F a c i l i t i e s (DSIF) a r e

equ ip ped w i t h po w er fu l t r a n s m i t t e r s and s e n s i t i v e r e c e i v e rswhich c a n m a i nt a in c o n t a c t w i th s p a c e c r a f t t r a v e l i n g t o t h emoon an? beyond, There a r e DSIF i n t w o c o u n t r i e s a b r o a d , .-I

3 , The Manned Sp ace F l i s h t n etw o rk , o r i g i n a l l y b u i l t t om e e t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s of P r o j e c t Mercury, is c a p a b l e of f a s t e rd a t a h an d l i n g and t r ac k i n g t h an M i n i t r ack , Th i s ne tw or k p r o-v ides con t inuous g round con tac t , mon i to r ing and communicationsw i t h t h e c a p s ul e , f r o m l au nc h u n t i l l a n d in g , i n o r d e r t o a s s u r et h e a s t r o n a u t ' s s a f e ty . There a r e e i g h t ground s t a t i o n s i nseven p o l i t i c a l a reas abroad.

4. The Srni thsonian Ast rophysical Observatory, u n d e r aNASA g r a n t , o p e r a t e s a world-wide system of Baker-Nunn t e l e -s c o p i c c am era s. T h i s o p t i c a l t r a c k i n g serves as a back-upsystem f o r ground r ad i o s t a t i o n s , It prov ides i n fo rmat ion ona t m o s p h e r i c d e r s i t i e s and is w p l o y e d i n geoi?ss;: -- I - 3 1 ~. I ;c.ter-mi n a t i o n of e x a c t d i s t a n c e s on e a r t h , T h e r e a r e Baker-Nunni n s t a l l a t i o n s i n nine c o u n t r i e s abroad. L

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T R A C K I N G A N D DATA A C Q U I S I T I O K AND REDUCTIG~

A s p a c e c ra f t w it h t h e f i n e s t s c i e n t i f i c i ns tr um e nt s,laun ch ed p e r f e c t l y i n t o o r b i t , i s w or th l e s s u n l e s s it can bet r a c k e d t o de te rmine w h e r e it i s , and i t s s c i e n t i f i c i n fo r -mation r e t r i eved and recorded on t h e ground, Then t h e d a t a ,record ed on magnet ic tap e , must be redu ced i n t o f a c t s m df i g u r e s i n o r d e r t h a t t h e s c i e n t i s t cm ana l yze t h e r e s u l t so f h i s s pace-borne exper imen t s

T o a cc om plish t h i s t a sk , t h e Goddard S p a c e F l i g h t C e n t e rs e r v e s a s t h e t r ac ki ng , communicat ians and computing hub ofNASA's w o r l d - w i d e Minitrack and Flanned Spacecraft Networks ,

Ir, a d d i t i o n , t h e Jet Prop uls ion Lab orator y, Pasadena,C a l i f o r n i a , o p e r a t e s Deep S pa ce I n s t r u m e n t a t i o n F a c i l i t i e sf o r t h e t r a c k i n g and d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n of l u n a r a n d p l a n e t a r ys a t e l l i t e p r o j e c t s .t o r y o p e r a t e s 1 2 o p t i c a l t r a ck i n g s t a t i o n s each equipped witha Baker-Nunn t e l e s c o p i c camera,

The Smithsonian Astrophys ical Observa-

T h i r t e e n M i n i t r a c k stations w h i c h se rve a s "eyes ande a r s " for un-manned s c i e n t i f i c s a t e l l i t e s p r o v id e precisiont r ac k in g , command and te l em etr y d a ta t o t h e Space Operat ions


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C o n t r o l Center at Goddard.T he se s t a t i o n s a r e c o n s t a n t l y b e i n g m o dif ie d t o t r a c k and

a c q u i r e d a t a from t h e more advanced s pa ce cr af t Aich have beendeveloped by NASA and t h e o t he r s t h a t a r e s u r e t o be developedi n t h e f u t u r e ,

Most of t o d a y ' s s m a l l s a t e l l i t e s w i l l give way t o th el a r g e o r b i t i n g o b s er v a to r ie s . This w i l l i n c r e a s e t h e complex-i t y , r an g e o f operat ion, miss ion durat ion and volume of d a t a ,Improved ground f a c i l i t i e s t o h a n d le t h e n e w g e n e r a t i o n o fs p a c e c r a f t a re needed, Some al re ad y e x is t : o thers a re i n th ep l a n n in g s t a g e .

Ex i s t ing equ ipment f o r the b i g o b s e r v a t o r i e s c o n s i s t s ofan 85-foot antenna a t Rosman, N. c-8 and ano ther at F a i r b an k s ,Alaska. I n a d d i t i o n , one more i s u n de r c o n s i d e r a t i o n f o r Ros-

I

man and o n e f o r a s t a t i o n i n t h e Far E a s t . These an tenna sys-tems, b e c a u s e of t h e i r - h i g h power and s e n s i t i v i t y w i l l h a n d l ei n f o r m a t i o n i n much g r e a t e r vo lume and v a r i e ty ,

For manned sp a ce f l i g h t s , t h e Godd ard S pace F l i g h t C e n t e ropera tes a g l o b a l ne tw ork of s t a t i o n s f o r t r a c k i n g , t e l e m e t r y ,and voice communicat ions on a " r e a l - t i m e " ba s i s , The. fo c a lp o i n t of t h i s i n t eg r a t e d co mmun icatio ns sy s tem i s Goddard'sSpace O p er a t i o n s C o n t r o l C en t e r w hich d e t e r mi n es and p r ed i c t ss a t e l l i t e o r b i t s , and c o n t r o l s a v o i c e n et wo rk , c a l l e d S C m ,l i n k e d . t o s t a t i o n s i n t h e network . D u a l h igh speed compaters,

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each w i t h a " rea l- t i me" channe l, make con s t an t l i g h t con t i n -gency recommendations, pred ic t f l i g h t p a t h s, d et er m in e t h e t i m et o i n i t i a t e r e- en tr y and p r e d i c t t h e impact point of t h e cap-s u l e on a near - in s tan tane ous and cont inuous bas i s d u r in g t h emiss ion . These compute rs , i n t h e s imple s t mathemat ica l expla -na t i on , c an add , f o r instance, a column of lo-digi t numbers 3/4of a m i l e i n l e n g t h e v e r y s e c o n d ,

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The Manned Spacecrsf t Tracking sys tem spans th ree c o n t i -n e n t s and th ree oceans , i n t e r co nnec t e d by a g l o b a l c o m u n i c a -t i ons ne t w ork . It u t i l i z e s l a n d l i n e , u nd ers ea cables and ra-d i o c i r c u i t s , and s pe c i a l communicat ions equipment ins ta l leda t c om m er cia l s w i tc h i n g s t a t i o n s i n b o t h t h e E a s t e r n and W e s t -ern hemispheres.

The p r o j e c t i n c l u d e s b u i l d in g s , computer programming,communicat ions and e lect ronic equipment , and r e l a t e d supportf a c - k l i t i e s r e q u i r e d t o d i rec t , moni tor, and pro vid e contactw i t h t h e manned s p a c e c r a f t ,

Al toge the r , t h i s sys tem invo lve s approximately 177,000r o u t e m i l e s of communications f a c i l i t i e s t o a s s u r e an i n t e -g r a t e d n etw ork w i t h w orld -w id e c a p a b i l i t y f o r h a n d l i n g s a t e l -l i t e d a t a , It i n c l u d e s lO2,OOO m i l e s o f t e l e t y p e , 60,000m i l e s of t e l ephone , and 15,000 m i l e s of high-speed Gata c i r -c u i t s ,

Goddard's s i t e f a c i l i t i e s i n c l u d e e q u i p m e n t for acqu i r -8


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ing the spacecraft; long range radars for automatic t r a c k i n g ;telemetry equipment for controlling th e manned vehicle fromthe ground if necessary, and voice channels f o r ground-to-aircommunications.

MINITRACK - UPaMANJSiD SATELLITE NETWORKThe instrumentation used primarily for unmanned satel-

l i t e missions is an outqrowth of th e Minitrack systcm origi-nally created as part of Project Vanguard in 1957. T5isnetwork was us e d to track Explorer I, first U.S. earth sat-ellite launched on January 3 1 , 1958. (This satellite l a u n c h e dby a modified ABMA-JPL Jupiter-C w i t h U.S. IGY scientifice x p e r i m e n t of James A. Van A l l e n which discovered t h e radia-t i o n belt around th e e a r t h . )

Today there are thirteen of these stations l o ca t edthroughout the world. The stations are l o c a t e d at BlossomPoint, Maryland: Fort Myers, Florida: Q u i t o , Equador; Lima,


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Peru; Anto fagas ta , Ch i le ; Sant iag o, C hi l e ; Woomera, A us tr a l ia :Joharmesburg, South A f r i c a ; Golds tone Lake, C a l i f o r n i a ; S t.Johns, Newfoundland: East Grand Forks, Minnesota: Fairbanks,Alaska and Winkf i e l d , England

The number of M i n i t r a c k s t a t i o n s and t h e i r l o c a t i o n s w e r echosen t o i n s u r e t h a t a t l e a s t o ne s t a t i o n w i l l be w i th in l i n eof s i g h t of a s a t e l l i t e d ur in g al mo st every o r b i t , regardlessof t h e i n c l i n a t i o n o r t h e o r b i t a l a l t i t u d e . Each s t a t i o n gen-e ra tes a f an-shaped an tenna ra d ia t i on p a t t e rn approx imate ly 11by 76 degrees. Si n c e , a t most, only a few p o i n t s p e r o r b i t areobtained w i t h t h i s sy ste m, it is obvious t h a t a v e r y a c c u r a t eo r b i t cannot be computed u n t i l s e v e r a l o r b i t s h a v e been com-p l e t e d .requ i rements o f unmanned sa te l l i t e s , w h i c h rem ain a l o f t f o rl o n g p e r i o d s of t h e . T h i s t r a c k i n g s y s t e m o p e r a t e s i n t h ef requency band of 136-137 K S nd r e q u i r e s a l i t t l e a c q u i s i -t i o n i n fo rma t i o n . "he d a t a i s a u t o m a t i c a l l y sampled andpu nched, i n d i q i t a l form, s u i t a b l e f o r t e l e t y p e t r a n s m i s s i o n ,on p a p e r t a p e a l on g w i t h t i m e a n d o t h e r a p p r o p r i a t e i n f o m a -t i o n . It i s t h e n t r a n s m i t t e d ba ck t o t h e Goddard Space Fl ightC e n t e r f o r computation of t h e s a t e l l i t e ' s p os it io n .

This t r a ck i n g method g e n e r a l l y s a t i s f i e s t h e o r b i t a l

D a t a a c q u i s i t i o n from t h e s a k e i l i t e , 01 telemetered dzta,is a l s o t ra n s m i tt e d t o t h e g r o u n d s t a t i o n s i n t h e 1 3 6 t o 1 3 7

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G e n er a ll y , t h e t e l e m e t r y i s recorded on magnet ic tape ,The magnet ic tapesi t h e r i n p r e d e t e c t e d o r d e t e c t ed form.

a r e t r a n s p o r t e d t o t h e c e n t r a l d a ta re du ct io n f a c i l i t y a t t h eGoddard skate F l i gh t Cen t e r. Th i s C e n t e r also s u p p l i e s e a c hs t a t i o n w i th o p e r a t i o n a l c o n t r o l d a t a and t h e ne c es se r y p r e-d i c t i o n i n f o r m a t i o n f o r s p a c e c r a f t a c q u i s i t i o n .

DEEP SPACE INSTRUMENTATION F A C I L I T Y (DSXF)

Deep Space Ins t rumen t a t i on F a c i l i t i e s a r e u s ed p r i m ar i l yf o r t r a c k i n g and d a t a a c q u i s i t i o n i n s uppor t of t h e NASA l u n a rand p l a n e t a r y p ro gr am s. S t a t i o n s a r e l o c a t e d a t G o ld st on e ,C a l i f o r n i a ; J ohannes burg, Repub li c of South Af r ic a ; and Woomera,A us t r a l i a , The Network Cont ro l Cente r i s a t t h e Z e t Propuls ionLabora tory , Pasadena , Ca l i forn ia ,

The Golds tone Tracking Fac i l i ty i s l oc a t ed a t a remotes i t e i n t h e Mojave D e s e r t nea r Bars tow, C al i f o rn ia . The Gold-stone f a c i l i t y , n a m e d for adjacent Golds tone Dry Lake, was se-l e c t e d a s t h e s i t e fo r t he s e an t ennas, because it o f f e r s e x -t r eme l y l o w background no ise le ve ls . Due t o t h e s e n s i t i v i t y


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of t h e rece iv ing equipment used, man-made in te rf e r e n c e fromau tomobil e i g n i t i on s ys tems, a i r c r a f t r ad i os , pow er l i ne s , andcommercial rad io and t e le v i s io n t ransmiss ion s m u s t b e k e p t a ta m i n i m u m ,

Three s t a t i o ns w i t h i n a s even-mil e r ad i us compr is e t h eGo ldsto ne complex:

ECHO STATION c o n s i s t s of an 85-foot diameter p o l a r mounta n te n n a, c a pa b le o f t r a c k i n g a t a n g u la r r a t e s of one degreeper second. A s e n s i t i v e phas e- locked r e ce i v e r and a low no i s ep a r a m e t r i c a m p l i f i e r , a 1 0 kw maximum power t r a n s m i t t e r , andass oc ia t ed d a ta handl ing and ins t ru men ta t ion sys tems compr i set h e b a s i c e l e c t r o n i c subsystems, This i s t h e main s t a t i o n andt h e pr im e t r a c k i n g a nte nn a f o r a l l t r a n s m i t t i n g , r e c e iv i n g andd a t a h a n d l in g c a p a b i l i t i e s , S u p po r ti n g l a b o r a t o r i e s , a dm in is-t r a t i v e and e n g in e er in g o f f i c e s a r e l o c a t e d h e r e ,

PIONEER STATION c o n s i s t s o f an 85-foo t d i ame t e r po l a rmount t r a ck i ng an t enna w hich is i d e n t i c a l t o t h a t a t t h e EchoS t a t i o n w it h t h e e xc ep ti on t h a t it d oe s n o t ha ve t r a n s m i t t i n gc a p a b i l i t i e s bu t does have a l ow no i s e Maser and Cas s eg ra i nfeed s ys tem. Th i s s t a t i o n i s used fo r bo th rese arch and de-velopment of advanced components o r systems, and a s a supp le-mentary antenna i n a s p a c e c r a f t t r a c k i n g mi s s i on ,

VENUS STATION co ns i s t s of an 85- foot diameter A z i m u t h -El ev at i on (Az-El) antenna mount wi th Cassegrain ty pe feed.


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Advanced Masers , and pa ra me tri c am p li fi er s w i l l beu t i l i z e d i n pe r fo rmi ng communication r e s ea rch ' q e r i m e n t s .For e x t e n s i v e t e s t i n g of sp ec ia l communication systems, ana d d it io n a l 30-foOt diam eter Az-E1 mount an tenn a is a v a i l a b l ea t t h e s t a t i o n ,a 100 kw t r a n s m i t t e r which eventual ly w i l l be used t o communi-c a t e t o t h e f a r reaches of t h e s o l a r system . The c e n t r a l c o n -t r o l b u il d in g s e r v i c e s both an t ennas du r i ng a t e s t ,

Advanced development i s a l s o p roceed i ng on

The p o la r mount antennas a re s i m i l a r t o t h e l a r g e r a d i ot e l e s c o p e s used t o f i n d and t r a c k r a d i o s t a r s . A r a d i o t e le -s cope cap t u re s m o s t s t r o n g l y th o s e s i g n a l s which c o m e f r o m ap o in t d i r e c t l y i n f r o n t of it. Thus, by con t inu ou s ly po in t -i n g t h e t e l e s c o p e i n t h e d i r e c t i o n of t h e s t r o ng e s t s ig n a l , as p a c e v e h i c l e c an be tracked i n i t s motion across t h e sky.

In add i t i o n t o t h e G o ldst one complex, the re i s a MobileT ra ck in g S t a t i o n for i n i t i a l s p a c e c r af t a c q u i s i t i o n a t Johan-nesburg, South A f r i c a , and a t r anspor tab le Launch TrackingS t a t io n a t t h e A t l a n t i c M i s s i l e Range, Cape Ca nav eral , F lor ida .

The Woomera Deep Space S t a t i o n has a s i n g l e 8 5 -f oo t diam-e t e r r ece i v i ng an t enna w i t h t r a ck i n g , t e l e me t ry r eco rd i ng , andDopple r ca p ab i l i t y . The Johannesburg S t a t i o n has a 1 0 kwt r a n s m i t t e r i d e n t i c a l to t h a t of t h e Z o i d s t o n e Echo S t a t i o f i .Thus t h e i n s t a l l a t i o n s a t G o ld st on e and Jo h an n es bu rg have t h e

s a p a b i l i t y of sending commands t o t h e s p a c e c r a f t a s w e l l as1 3


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to t r a c k , record telemetry, m.d a b t a i n Doppler d a t a , TheMobi le Tracking S ta t ion and t h e Launch Trackin9 S ta t i o n dono t have command c a p a b i l i t y b u t have low p o w e r , t r a n s m i t t e r st o o b t a i n D op ple r i n fo r m a ti o n ,

The t h r e e p erm an en t i n s t a l l a t i o n s a r e l o c a t e d a p p ro x i -ma t e l y 120 deg ree s ap a r t a round t h e e a r t h . Their t r a c k i n gcove rage ove r l aps so as t o p r o v i d e c o n ti n u ou s c o n t a c t w i t ht h e s p a c e c r a f t . T hro ug ho ut t h e m i s si o n ea ch s t a t i o n l o ck so n to t h e s p a c e c r a f t , t r a c k s it u n t i l t h e r o t a t i o n of t h ee a r t h car r ies t h e s t a t i o n to t h e limits of i t s hor i zon , andt h e n p a s s e s th e s p a c e c r a f t on t o t h e n ex t s t a t i o n ,

Frequenc ies assigned fo r u s e on DS XF m is si on s f a l l i n t otwo g e n e r a l c a t e g o r i e s : ground- t r ans m i t t e r f r equenc i e s ands p a c e c r a f t - t r a n s m i t t e r f r e q u e n c i e s , Cur ren t l y , 890 MCS i sus ed f o r e a r t h - t o - s p acec r a f t t r ans m i s s i on and 960 MCS froms p a c e c r a f t - t o - e a r t h . I n 19 63 , t h e s t a t i o n s w i l l p h a s e i n t ot h e as sig ne d sp ac e coxfanunication band s u si ng 2290-2300 MCSf o r s p a c e c r af t - to - e a r t h and 2110-2120 MCS f rom ear th- to-s p a c e c r a f t,

The pre s en t g round t e l em e t e r i ng s yst em can accep t t r a n s -miss io n band-widths of 3.5 KCS and i s des igned t o proces sFM/PM modul at ion a t 960 MCS, A wide bandwidth de tec t ion ca-p a b i l i t y i s p la nn ed f o r i n t e g r a t i o n i n t o t h e DSIF as part oft h e 2290-2300 MCS r e c e i v e r ,

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To pr ov id e f o r t h e command c o n t r o l of the LCui ict iGAi i5 of as pace p robe , an i n i t i a l command ca pa b i l i t y co ns i s t i n g of threeaudio f requency tones is c u r r e n t l y b e i n g u se d. F u t u r e commandrequi rements appear t o f a v o r a d i g i t a l t e ch n iq u e , and t h i s d i g -i t a l command sys tem i s b e in g i n tr o d uc e d i n t h e DSIF.

The DSIF S t a t i o n s , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e g ai n d e r i v a b l e fromt h e i r l a r g e a nte nn as , a l s o must a t t r i b u t e t h e i r a b i l i t y t o com-munica te ac ross m i l l i o n s of mi l e s of s pa ce t o t h e i r e xt re m el ys e n s i t i v e a n d s t a b l e r e c e i v e r s . These a r e d e s ig n e d for t h ep u r po s e o f t r a c k i n g t h e r e c e iv e d RF c a r r i e r i n phase , and f o rampl i tude and p h a s e - s e n s i t i v e d e t e c t i o n of t h e s id e b an d s .D op pler d a t a a r e d e r i v e d f r o m t h e l o c a l o s c i l l a t o r , t e l e m e t r yd a t a from e i t h e r t h e phase e r r o r i n t h e t r a c k in g l oo p o r froma s e p a r a t e d e t e c t i o n c h an n el , and a n g l e d a t a f rom s e p a r a t ea n g l e - e r r o r d e t e c t i o n c h an n el s.p l i f i e r s a re b e i n g i n s t a l l e d w h i c h w i l l g i v e e x tr e m el y h i g ho v e r - a ll r e c e iv i n g s ys te m s e n s i t i v i t i e s .

Cur ren t l y pa ram e t r i c pream-


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. .

WIDEBAND DATA ACQUISITION NETMany o f t h e s a t e l l i t e s t o be launched by t h e N at i ona l

Aero nau t ics and Space Adm inis t ra t io n i n t h e f u t u r e w i l l u s ev e r y w i d e bandwidths f o r t r a n s m i s s i o n of d a t a f rom the s a t -e l l i t e t o t h e ground s t a t i ons .

S i n c e t h e r e ce i v er and s k y n o i s e i n t h e te l em e t ry l i n ki s p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e bandwidth used f o r r e c e p t i o n , e i the ra v e r y h i g h t r a n s m i t t e r p o w e r o r a v e r y h i g h a n t en n a g a i n ,o r b o t h , mus t be u se d f o r wideband t e l e m e t r y l i n k i n o r d e rt o ach i eve good s i gna l - t o -n o i s e r a t i o s The t r a n s m i t t e rpowers are r e s t r i c t e d f o r t e c h n i c a l r ea so n s a nd c on s eq u en tl yit i s n e c e s s a r y t o us e ve ry h i gh -ga in an tennas a t t h e grounds t a t i o n s f o r r e c e i v i n g t h e w i deband t e l eme t ry s i gna l s . Theses a t e l l i t e s w i l l u s e s e v e r a l of t h e f requency bands as s ign edf o r s p a c e use . Therefore , t h e high-ga in an tenna m u s t have ac a p a b i l i t y o f o p e r a t i n g s im u l ta n e o us ly a t s e v e r a l f r eq u e n ci e s.The a n te n na t h a t be s t s a t i s f i e s t h e r eq uir em en ts f o rg a i n a n d m u l t i p l e f r e q u e n c y o p e r a t i o n i s a p a r a b o l i c85 f e e t i n diameter,

The f i r s t s a t e l l i t e which r e q u i r e s a l a r g e d a t a16

h i g hantenna,

acquis i-


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. t i o n f a c i l i t y f o r w i d e bandwidth recept ion w i l l be Pro jec tKimbus, which w i l l b~ t aj-inrj t e l e v i s i o n p i c t u r es of t h e earth'sclvdd cover, Nimbus i s o n e of t h e s a t e l l i t e s t h a t w i l l have ap o l a r o r b i t . C o ns eq ue nt ly , t h e f i r s t s t a t i o n f o r widebanci d a t aa c q u i s i t i o n h a s been c o n s t r u c t e d a tn o r t h of Fairbanks , Alaska. I t w a sc o n t r a c t h a s b ee n e n t e r e d i n t o w i t hf o r o p e r a t i o n of t h e s t a t i o n . T h isv i d e coverage for 70 p e r c e n t of t h e

G i l m o r e Creek, 1 2 m i l e scomple ted in May 1962, AThe U n i v e r s i t y of Alaskas t a t i o n w i l l be able t o pro-passes of a s a t e l l i t e i n a

pola r o r b i t . A c o n t r a c t for c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a se co nd s t a t i o nt o be l o c a t e d n e a r R o s m a n , North Caro1ir .a was e n te re d h t o i nJ u l y 1962 . T h i s s t a t i o n w i l l p i c k up an a d d i t i o n a l 2 0 p e r c e n tof t h e p a s s e s of a p o l a r s a t e l l i t e . Thus, t h e s e t w o s t a t i o n sform a network which w i l l prov i de cove rage o f 90 p e r c e n t of t h eo r b i t s of a s a t e l l i t e w i th a v e r y h i g h i n c l i n a t i o n ,

The main antenna fo r t h e A la sk an s t a t i o n is an 85-footd i a m e t e r p a r a b a l o i d w i t h a f o c a l l e n g t h of 36 f e e t , The s u r -f a c e c o n s i s t s of double-curbed aluminum s h e e t p an e ls and i ssep a r a t e from t h e r e f l e c t o r s t r u c t u r e i n o r de r t h a t it may bei n d e p e n d e n t l y a d j u s t e d ,type mount d es ig n ed s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r t r a c k i n g s a t e l l i t e s ,

The r e f l e c t o r is mounted on an X-Y

he ~ c t e ~ n a, p czp&l.e of tracking at rates o f 0 t o 3 Op e r s ec on d, w i t h a c c e l e r a t i o n s up t o So per second squared .P o i n t i n 9 a c c u r a c y i s t 2 min. of a r c , The an t enna ha s six

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a p e r a t i o n a l modes; w i l l act_r\m=tir&1y lock-on a s a t e l l i t es i g n a l , or be d r i v e n by a t e l e t y p e d r i v e - t a p e i np u t.be manually o p e r a t ed , slaved t o an ac q u i s i t i o n ant en na , o ro p e r a te d i n v a r i o u s search modes for i n i t i a l a c qu i s i t io n ,

It may

TIlE ROLE OF COMMUhICATIONS 1h:MANNED SPACE FLIGHTS

Whenever a human l i f e is t o be s u b j e c t e d t o a c a l c u l a t e dr i s k , American phi los ophy demands t h a t ad equ ate prec au t io ns bet a k e n t o a s s u r e s a fe t y . I n t h e c a se of manned space f l i gh t s ,we must - m o w w h e r e t h e spaceman is and how he i s w i t h s t a n c i n ghis changing envi ronment th rough a l l phases of t he mission:l aunch , o r b i t , r e - e n t r y and recovery . From t h e i n s t a n t t h ero ck e t e n gi ne s a r e i g n i t e d , t h e experts i n c o n t r o l of the mis-s i o n mu s t be s u p p l i e d w i t h ex ac t i n f o r ma t i o n co n ce r n i n g t h es p a c e c r a f t ' s a c c e l e r a t i o n , Speed an d d i r ec t i o n t o en ab l e t h e mt o make an i n t e l l i g e n t and a l m o s t immedia t e dec i s ion as tow h e t h e r a s a t i s f a c t o r y o r b i t is p o s s i b l e .s p ee d d a t a l i n e s c a r r y r a d a r u a t a f r o m Cape Canavera l andBermuda t o t h e computers a t th e Goddard S p a c e F l i g h t C e n t e r ,a n d t h e n c a r r y back t h e computer 's answers t o th e p l o t b o a r d s

T o do t h i s , high-

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a t t h e Manned Space F l i g h t Z x t r c l Cer? te r - The raCISrs at t h eCape must t a l k i n a language which i s unders tanuaf i l r t o th ecomputer , and th e computer must u s e a language t h a t the p l o tboards c an u n d er s ta n d. N a t u r a l l y , a d i g i t a l d a t a co de i s uti-l i z e d a nd t h e fa s t -o p e r at i n g , e l e c t r o n i c a l l y d r i v en p l o t bo ar dsdraw t h e i r gr a phs of capsule t r a j e c t o r y p ar am et er s only a fewthwasandths o f a seco nd behind t h e a c t u a l c a ps u le p o s i t i o n .X@ t on l y is t h e a c t u a l po s i t io n p l o t t e d , b u t t h e p r e d i c c c dimpact p i n t , an o thz r rap:??;. changing i t e m , i s c o n t i n u m s l yd i sp la ye d . The p o i n t cf c a psu le l a nd ing on t h e e z r t h isknown 3t all times, whethzr o r n o t t h e b o o s t e r f u n c t i o n sproperly o r t h e miss ion is t er m in at ed b e f o r e o r b i t a l i r i s e r -t i o n occurs . Thus, the F l i g h t C o n t r o l l e r s have a l l t h e d a t at h s y need t o nake t h e i r decisions.

kt t h e same time, t h e C o n t r o l C e n t e r F l i g h t C o n t r o l l e r s? r e i n v o i c e c o n t a ct w i t h t h e Bermuda Flight C o n t r o l l e r s sot h a t a f i n a l go-no-go de c is io n can be made by Bermuda i f t h es p a c e c r a f t is o u t of Canav era l ' s r ad a r r ange .i t s own r a d a r s , p l o t b o ar ds and h ig h-s pe ed d a t a c i r c u i t s t oa s s i s t i n m aking t h e final decision. L e s s t h a n a minute isa v a i l a b l e b e c a u se i f re-entry and impact a re t o occulr S c f o r et h e c a psu le impac t po i n t r ea cha s i i f r i c a , t h e r e t r o - r o c k e t smust f i r e w h i le t h e capsu le i s aver Bermuda.

Bem.udz h a s

Once t h e capsule i s ir, arhi .c , t h e computer 2.t GoddacC?19


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e s t h l i s h e s the p rec i s 2 zr 'Si? ;d t r z c t , p-,e=.r $st? r n r n j y inf r o m aennuda, Canary Island, t h e two A u s t r a l i q n S i t e s , Eawaiiand t h e No rth .ziF?efican Sites, i s analyzed b y t h e computer t;od e t e r m i n e t h e c a p s u l e ' s exact position and t o p r e d i c t where itw i l l be 10, 1 5 o r any given Lumber of minutes ir, t h e f u t u r e .The r a da r s t a l k t o t h e com puter i n d i g i t a l l an gu a qe a g ai n, b u tt h i s t i m e , t h e computer a u t o ma t i c a l l y s e n d s o u t a c q u i s i t i o nm essages i n r e a d ab l e E ng l is h v i a t e l e t y p e l i n e s t o each s i t et e l l i n g t h e s i t e c r e w exactly where t o p o i n t t h e i r t r a c k i n gan tennas and a t what t i m e t h e y can expec t t o l o c a t e t h e cap-s u l e .

Meanwhile, t h e a s t r o n a u t ' s p h y s i c a l w el l- b ei n g is checkeda t each s i t e by voice and t e l e m e t r y communications from theo r b i t i n g v e h i c l e t o the site.needed a t t h e C o n t r o l Center and must be handled as r a p i d l y

Because t h i s i n f o m a t i o n $6

as p o s s i b l e , both voice and t e l e type c i r c u i t s are used by'thes i t e s t o keep the C o n t r o l C e n t e r u p -t o -d a te on t h e s t a t u s oft h e miss ion. Thus, t h e t r a i n e d e xp er ts a t the Manned Sp3ceF l i g h t Cont ro l C e n t e r a re i n a f u l l y in fo rm ed s t a t u s , r ea dya t any moment t o do whatever i s n e c e s s a ry t o i n s u r e t h e A s t r o -n a u t 's s f t y.

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FABRICATION OF THE NGTWORKS i n c e Pro j ec t Mercury i s s e r v i n g a s a proying ground for

more so p h i s t i c a t ed f u t u r e sp ace p ro gr ams , i t s communicationsnetwork w a s d e s i g n e d t o p er mi t f u t u r e m o di f ic a ti o n. For t h i sreasc)n , ex i s t i n g co mmun icatio ns f a c i l i t i e s were u t i l i z e d t o t h ef u l l e s t e x t e nt p o s s i b le i n i ts f a b r i c a t i o n r a t h e r t h a n makingan a t t m p t ta estaS1itch 2 :irrmanec-, and completely z e w network.I n c e r t a i n c a s es , e x is ti nc j f a c i l i t i e s c ou ld n o t f i l l a21 t h erequi rements and, where gaps became appa ren t , th ey w e r e f i l l e dby u s in g f a c i l i t i e s s up pl ie d b y t h e E a t i o n a l A e r c na u ti c s andSpace Adm in i s t r a t ion . Apprec iab le cos t s a v in g s r e s u l t e d f r o mt h i s a p pro ac h a nd much b e t t e r n etw ork r e l i a b i l i t y w a s achieveds i n c e a l re ad y p roved-in c i r c u i t s and equ ipment w e r e used. Ina d di t i on , t h e b u i l t - i n v e r s a t i l i t y of t h e working equipmentand serv ices en ab l ed mo d i f i ca t i o n s and ad d i t i o n s t o be madew i t h o u t t h e need for ex t en s i v e d es i g n ch an g es .

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NETFiJORKAbout 1 77 ,0 00 c i r c u i t m ile s- a r e c o n t a in e d i n t h e network.

Of t h i s t o t a l , abou t l O 2 , O O O m i l e s a r e t e l e t y p e , 6O,QO@ m i l e sa r e t e l ep ho n e , and 15,000 m i l e s a r e h ig h -sp eed d a t a c i r c u i t s ,T h i s i s a l l p ac kag ed i n t o a 65 , 000 m i l e communications r o u t e ,

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A l i s t of t h e 17 s i t e s i nv ol ve d, t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e i r a b b r ev i a-tad i d e d e s i g n a t i o n s i s ----=-J L L A , Szlcw :

XWIE CODE

Goddard Space F l i g h t Center ........................... GSCCape Canaveral ........................................ CNVRose Knot Sh i p ........................................ RI(vC a n a m I s l a n d ......................................... CY1K a n o , N i g e r i a ......................................... KNOZanz iba r .............................................. ZZBC o a s t a l S e n t r y S h ip ................................... CSQXuchea, A u s t r a l i a ...................................... MU Crdoomera, Australia .................................... W WCanton Island ......................................... CTNKauai, Hawaii ......................................... HAWP o i n t A r g u e l l o, C a l i f o r n i a ............................ CALGuaymas, Mexico ....................................... GYMEgfin, F l o r i d a ........................................ EGL

P4anned Space Flight Control Center .................... MCCBermuda ............................................... BDA

Khite Sands, New Mexico ............................... WHSC o rp u s C h r i s t i , Texas ................................. TEXKASA Sub-switchins (Relay) L o c a t i o n sA d e l a i d e , A u s t r a l i a ................................... ADELondon, England ....................................... . L D NHonolulu, H a w a i i ....................................... HOX

Messages a r e c a r r i e d by l a n d l i n e , submarine cable andra d i o , c o n n e c t i n g a w i d e v a r i e t y of r a d i o , t e l e t y p e and v o i c eequipment, Full t i m e c i r c u i t s p r o v i d e a 11 t h e services neededfor m essage t r a f f i c d u r i n g o t h e r t h a n m i s si on p e r i o d s . Addi-t i o n a l c i r c u i t s a r e pro vid ed d u r in g mi ss io n p e r io d s t o guardag a i n s t d e l a y t o m i s s i o n t r a f f i c . Mission p e r i o d s a r e d e f in e das t i m e s du rin g which t h e network is used t o s u p p o r t a c t u a land/or s i mu l a t e d mi s s i o n s and impor tan t t e s t s . The network

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u s e s o n l y t w o back-up c i r c u i t s . T h e one t o Bermuda providesa redundant c i r c u i t which as su res t ransm iss io n service t ot h i s c r u c i a l s i t e even i f t h e t w o p r i m a r y c i r c u i t s f a i l , Theback-up c i r c u i t f o r t h e I n d i a n Ocean S h ip v i a A u s t r a l i a i sprcvided t o ca r r y mess ages i r , case t h e p ri ma ry r o u t e f a i l s .

T Y P I C A L MESSAGE R a U T I N G CURIKG MISSIONS

A t y p i c a l example of how m e s s a g e t r a f f i c i s c a r r i e d d u r -i n g a mission i s t h e Canary I s l a n d t o G odda rd c i r cu i t con f i g -u r a t i o n , A t e l e t y p e m essage o r i g i n a t i n g a t Canary dur ing amission would be able t o reach Goddard by any one of t h e f o l -lowing routes :

1, Full-Time Primarv R o u t e - 5218 m i l e sFrom Canary by l a n d l i n e t o t h e t e r m in a l o f

Compania Telefono National D e Espana, t henc e v i aTran s rad i o Espano la r ad i o t o London ExternalTelecommunicat ions Execut ive ter m ina l , th en ceby t r a n s a t l a n t i c cable, a j o i n t Amer ican T e l e -phone and Telegraph Long L i n e s and Pos tmas te rG en er al f a c i l i t y t o t h e Radio Corpora t i on ofAmerica Communications (RCAC) t e r m i n a l a t 66

Broad St ree t i n N e w York thenca t o t h e AT&T LongL i n es t e r m i n a l a t 32 Avenue of t h e Americas i nN e w York. From t h e r e it goes t o Washington andG r e e n b e l t , Maryland on AT&T U n g Lines f a c i l i t i e st e r m i n a t i n g a t Goddard.

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2 . P a r t - T k , e R o u t e - 5218 m i l e sA second r o u t e u sin g s e p a r a t e c i r c u i t s o n t h e

same g e n e r a l r o u t e as t h e F u l l T i m e Primary Routei s c a l l e d up du r i ng mi ss i on pe r i o ds t o hand l e t h ea d d i t io n a l t r a f f i c c r ea te d by t h e mission.

GODDARD SPACE OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER

The v a r i o u s t r a c k i n g a nd t e l e m e t r y s t a t i o n s t h r ou g h o u tt h e w o rl d h av e been i n t e g r a t e d i n t o a coord ina ted ne tworkt h rough a communica tions system te rm ina t ing i n th e GoddardSpace O pera t ions Co n t ro l Cen t e r.

The fun c t i o ns o f t h e O p e r a t i o n s C o n t r o l C e n t e r are :1. C o n t r o l t h e o p e r a t i o n of a l l t r a ck i ng , command, a n d

da t a a c q u i s i t i o n , a n d f a c i l i t i e s u t i l i z e d i n s u pp or t of s c i en -t i f i c space v e h i c l e s .

2. C o o r d i n a t e t h e o p e r a t i o n of ot h er ground ins t rumenta -t i o n f a c i l i t i e s u t i l i z e d i n su pp or t o f s c i e n t i f i c space vehicles,w i t h the e x c e p t i o n of c e r t a i n l a u n c h s i t e i n s t a l l a t i o n s .

3. E n s u r e t h a t operational a c t i v i t i e s r e q u ir ed i n s u pp or t24


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of a ny s c i e n t i f i c s p a c e c r a f t a r e p r o p e r l y executed rrworeingt o t h e o p e ra t io n s p l a n f o r t h e s p a c e c ra f t . I n t h e e v e nt o fi n a b i l i t y t o f u l f i l l t h e o p er a ti o n s p l a n r eq ui re m en ts , t h ec o n t r o l c e n t e r i s r e s po ns i b l e f o r recommending s u i t a b l e a l t e r -n a t i v e c o u r se s o f a c t i o n t o t h e projec t manager, and makingc e r t a i n t h a t h i s d e c i s i o n i s proper ly implemented .

4. P ro vi de f a c i l i t i e s f o r m o nito rin g th e s t a t u s of t h enetwork and the. s p a c e c r af t a t a l l times.

5. E ns ur e t h a t t h e p r o j e c t m anager i s kept in formed ofany de pa r tu re s f rom nominal i n th e s t a t u s o f t h e netw ork o rt h a t of t h e s a t e l l i t e w hich mi gh t e f f e c t t h e conduc t of t h eo p e r a t i o n .

6. S c he d ul e n etw or k a c t i v i t i e s t o e n s u r e t h a t t h e r e q u i r e -ments imposed a re w i t h i n t h e o p e r a t io n a l c a p a b i l i t y of t h e ne t -work, and t o a v o i d c o n f l i c t s b etw een i n d i v i d u a l p r o j e c t s i n s o f a ra s poss ib le .

7. P ro vid e f a c i l i t i e s su ch t h a t i n t e re s t e d o f f i c i a l s canfollow t h e c r i t i c a l phases of s p e c i f i c o p e r a t i o n s and can rap-i d l y o b t a i n i n fo r m at io n on t h e s t a t u s of any s a t e l l i t e d ur in gi t s u s e f u l l i f e t i m e .

The space c o n t r o l center u t i l i z e s t h e fo llu wing f a c i l i t i e si n t h e p er fo rm an ce o f t h e i r f u n c t i o n s :

Communicat ions. Fou rteen te le ph one t o l l lines, two loca lv o i c e loop c i r c u i t s , two s p e c i a l , e x t e r n a l p o in t- to - po in t c i r -


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c u i t s , 1 2 G S F C e x t e n s i o n s , a na t e n c i ia i i ~ ~ L e r e a no s i t i o c sp rovi dE vo i ce c on t ac t betw een ex t e r na l and i n t e rn a l groupsp erfo rm in g h n c t i o n s e s s e n t i a l t o a g i ven ope ra t i on .

I? a d d i t i o n t o t h e r o u t i n e , in -h ou se r o u t i n g s ys te m f o rp r i n t ed mes s ages , t h e c e n t e r i s t i e d i n t o t h e w o rld wid e te le-type network via t w o quas i - rea l - t ime TTY d a t a l i n e s and t w o:no i i i t s r l i n e s which prclvide a minimum of d e l ay on c i r c u i t s ofope raL i ma1 i mpor t ance .

Uisplay. T h r e e l a r g e b a c k - l i t p l e x i g l a s s b o a rd s c onveyessentials of m i s s i o n i n t e g r i t y .

T n c f i r s t of t h e s e p r e s e n t s a c u r r e n t T ra ck in g N e t w o r kass ianment and per formance schedu le i n s ix-hour inc rements .

Tile s ec on d p r o j e c t s m i s si on m i l e s t o n e a nd m essag e t r a f f i cd a t a p e r t i n e n t t o s u c c e s s p r o b a b i l i t y .

T 5 i r d and perhaps the m o s t c r i t i c a l of t h e t h r e e : t h eIconorama Pr o je c t io n Board . The Iconorama i s a computer-drivenana l og conve r s i on dev i ce . I t r e c e i v e s d i q i t a l d a t a from a com-p u t i n g s o u r c e , c o n v e r t s i t i n t o meaningfu l l anguage t h a t i t sp l o t t i n g d e v i ce w i l l u n de rs ta n d, an d p r o j e c t s a p l o t p i c t u r eo f miss ion t i m e h i s t o r y i n terms of l aunch veh i c l e and space-craft v e l o c i t y .

TIE Communications N e t w o r k c e n t e r i n g on t h e G o d d a r d SpaceF l i 5 h t C e n t e r i n c l u d e s 48 f u l l - p e r i o d , l e a s e d teletype i i R e ss e r v i n g 335 c o n t i n e n t a l and f o r e i g n s t a t i o n s i n the Mini t razk

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and Deep Space Networks, other data acquisition and cormnandstations for scientific satellites, and other agencies in thescientific community engaged in the exploration of space,These 43 circuits are terminated in a Western Union 1llBswitching center which is a system combining torn-tape relay,message switching, and circuit switching capabilities, Cir-cuit combining facilities permit the interconnection of anystation in the 'network in any combination for direct conferenceor real-time data exchange as needed.

Three Twx, RCA, ACR Western Union commercial TELEX serv-ices are available, These circuits are used to carry all typesof administrative and logistics information, satellitk trackingdata, satellite prediction and orbital data, and certain typesof telemetry data,

All equipment and circuits in the Operations R o o m arearranged on a patch panel which permits complete flexibilityin interchanging or substitution of equipments and links.of the page printers is equipped with a keyboard for use inkeyboard-tu-keyboard coordination of data runs with remote

One

stations in the network. Each of the circuits may b e directlyconnected t o any station in the network by leg-combining re-peaters under s w i t c h cofitirol,is provided for special tape preparation,

3;Jn off - l i r?e 19/14 teletype s e t

In the Control Room, one circuit and two page printers27


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h ~ exst-ided for coordinatioz 3r.d mcn i t c r r piirpnses,in the network may be confereliced in and/or monitored uponrequest. Outbound traffic from the control room is trans-mitted to the communications room. Voice communications inthe control room are accomplished with standard telephoneequipments. Each of 12 operating positions have the capabil-ity of utilizing an outside exchange line, local interpositionextensions, or a general conference loop. Selected positions

have the capability of point-to-point connection for immediatecontact to facilities such as the communications room. TheOperations Director, the Project Coordinator, and the NetworkController have the capability of selecting any of the linesin the room. Headset transceivers are generally used, leavingthe operator's hands free.

m y lines

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GODDARD COMMUNICP.TIONS CENTER FUNCTIONS

The Communications C e n t e r a t Goddard i s a s w i t ch i ng andr e l a y c e n t e r c a p a b l e of accep t i ng mess ages from a l l s i t e s andau t oma t i ca l l y r e l ay i ng t hem as i n d ic a t ed i n Items 1 th rough 5b e l o w ,

1.

2.3 .

4.

5,

From any s i t e t o the Manned Space Fl ight ControlCente r and/or t h e Goddard Space F l i g h t C e n t e rcommunications C e n t e r .Any s i t e can b roadcas t t o a l l s i t e s .From r a d a r s i t e s t o t h e G oddard S p ac e F l i g h tC e n t e r Computers.From t h e Co nt r o l Cente r , t h e Goddard Space F l igh tC e n t e r Communications Cen ter and t h e Goddard SpareF l i g h t Cen t e r Computers t o any s i t e ,From t h e Co n t ro l Ce n t e r , t h e G oddard S pace F l i g h tCenter Communications C e n t e r t o a l l s i t e s s imul tane-ously.

For t e l e type messages of t h e ty p e s i n d i c a t e d a bo ve, t h es w i t c h i n g o r d i r e c t i n g i s done au t o ma t i ca l l y by hav ing t h et e l e t y p e equipment respond t o s p e c i f i c d i r e c t i n g codes i n t h e

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incoming message address . ~ h u s ~ ~ e s s s j er c x t5e xanc 3 i t ~d e s t i n e d f o r t h e C o n tr o l C e n t e r w ould h av e t h e d i r e c t i n g c o deCC i n i t s message address and t h e au tom at ic swi tch ing equipmenta t Goddard would d i r e c t t h e message upon i t s a r r i v a l t o oneo f t h e C o n t r o l C e n t er l i n e s . For Kano t o b roadca s t t h e m e s -s age t o a l l s i t e s , a d i r e c t i n g c o d e f o r broadcas t messageswould be u s e d and t h e message would be au t oma t i ca l l y s w i t cheda n d s e n t t o a l l s i t e s . Should Kano wish t o send a message t oc e r t a i n s e l e c t ed s i t e s , no t on a b roa dca s t b a s i s , th e p r o p e rcodes would be s e n t i n t h e add ress and t h e message would bemanual ly re layed a t th e Communications Ce nte r t o t h e s i t e s asi n d ic a t ed i n t h e m essage , There a r e two ver y good reason s f o ra r r a n g i n g t h e n etw ork t o p er fo rm i n t h i s m anner:

1, Goddard is ab le t o make a permanen t r e co rd o f a l lnetw ork t r a f f i c ? or p o s t - f l i g h t a n a l y s i s by r e t a i n i n gpunched t a pe r eco rds o f a l l mess ages r ece i ved .

2, It i s much more economical as f a r as t o t a l c i r c u i tm i l e a g e i s concerned t o c on ne ct a l l s i t e s t o onemessage ce nt e r than t o i n t e r - c o n n e c t a l l s i t e s .

An a d d i t i o n a l a d v an ta ge i s tha t Goddard i s ab le t o mai n t a i np r o p e r n etw ork d i s c i p l i n e an d c o n t r o l s i n c e an y m essag e ca nbe monitored a t any t i m e and a n y d e v i a t i o n f rom e s t ab l i s hedp r a c t i c e s c a n be d e t e c t e d an d c o r r e c t e d .


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With respect to the switching of voice messages, a masterswitchboard at Goddard called the SCAMA (Switdhing Conferenc-in9 and Monitoring Arrangement) is used, This is a manuallyoperated device which is manned on a round-the-clock basis forthe purpose of connecting any two or almost any combination ofvoice equipped sites together for the conveyance of information.During mission periods, the SCAMA operator generally acts underthe control of .the Operations Director at the Control Centerin making the desired connections. The services available forvoice transmission are described in the Voice Network portionof this publication.

VOICE COMMUNICATION NEXWORK

A world-wide tracking and ground communication networkwould not be complete or fully efficient without an adequatevoice network.work, all of the tracking s i t e s =re s?rp,"lhd with voice con-nections to the switching center at Goddard Space FlightCenter.

In the case of the Manned Space Flight Net-


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The Switching Cocferencinp m A Monitoring Arrangement(SCkMA) a t t h e G oddard S pace F l i g h t C e n t e r i s t h e s w i t c hi n gcen te r for t h e voice network.t h e SCAMA with each of t h e s t a t i o n s a r e le a s ed f r o m domest icU. S, and f or e i gn common c a r r i e r s .

T h e t e l e p h o n e l i n e s c o n ne c ti n g

Dur ing miss ion per iods t h e v o i c e c i r c u i t s a r e connect edt o g e t h e r i n a c o n f e r e n c e c o n f i g u r a t i o n w h i c h e n ab l es t h e f o l -lowing func t ions t o be performed:

1,

2.

3 .

4.

The Cont ro l Cente r can b e s u p p l i e d r a p i d l y w i t hr e a l t i m e c a p s u l e s t a t u s i n fo r m a ti o n e n a b l in gthem t o d e a l q u i c k l y w i t h any unusual c i rcum-s t a n c e s w h i c h may occur ,V o i c e d i r e c t i v e s from t h e C o n t ro l C e n te r c an b eg i ven t o t h e command s i t e s i n cas e r ap i d changesi n c a p su l e r e t r o f i r e s e t t i n g s a r e r e qu ir ed f o rexped i t ed r e - en t ry of t h e v e h i c l e .A l l s i t e s hav i ng vo i ce c - a b i l i t i e s may be f u l l yinformed a t a l l t i m e s of miss ion s t a t u s by mon-i t o r i n g t h e vo ice t r a f f i c on t h e c o n fe re n ce hook-UP *The conve r s a t i ox b e t w e e n t h e a s t r o n a u t a nd t h eCapsule Communicator a t any voice-equippeJ s i t ec a n b e monitored by all t h c v o i c e s i t e s on t h enetwork .


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5. Where an a r e a of o v e r l a p occurs be tween s i t e s i nr a d a r o r command t r a n sm i t t e r coverage, t h e vo icec i r c u i t s may b e used t o e s t a b l i s h t h e e x a c t t i m ea t w hich one s i t e c e a se s t r a n s m i t t i n g and t h en e x t s i t e s t a r t s in o r d e r t o avoid any p o s s i b l ec o n f l i c t w i t h r a d a r beacon responses o r confusedcommand signals.

FACILITIES AKXl INSTRUMENTATIONThe v o i c e co mm un icatio ns c i r c u i t s u s e f o u r- w ir e f a c i l i -

t i e s i n wh ic h s e p a r a t e t w o - w i r e c i r c u i t s a r e u sed f o r eachd i r e c t i o n of t r ans mi s s i on , This type of c i r c u i t is neces s a ryi n order t o be able t o mainta in acceptable volume l ev e l s w i t hminimum d i s to r t i o n ov er such an ex ten s iv e ne twork i n whichs e v z r a l r o u t e s extend half-way around t h e world, The u s e off ou r- wir e f a c i l i t i e s a l so s i m p l i f i e d th e swi tching problemsa t Goddard. A w i d e v a r i e t y of t r ans m i s s i on med ia a r e i nc l udedi n the network s u c h as : a e r i a l and underground cable, micro-wave re lay, submarine cable and o v e r se a s r a d i o l i n k s .OPERATIONAL USE O F VOICE CONFERENCE HOOKUP DURING MISSIONS

The conference hookup u s e d dur i n g mi s si ons i s arranged byt h e SCAMA o p e r a t o r a t t h e r e q u es t of t he O pe ra t i ons D i r e c t o ra t t h e Ccntro l . C e f i t e r , All the s i t e s h a v i n g v o i c e c a p a b i l i -t i e s a r e t hen connect ed i n t o o n e loop.Goddard l i n e i s connected to t h e F1&0 Superv i sor ' s and t o t h e

A t each s i t e , t h e

F l i g h t C o n t r o l l e r C o nso les p o s i t i o n s . Although a l l v o i c e33


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s i t e s can moni tor a l l communications on t h e v o i ce n etw o rk , th eSCAMA o p e r a to r c o n t r o ls t h e t a l k i n g a cc es s c a p a b i l i t i e s sot h a t o n l y t h e s i t e designed by t h e C o n t r o l C e n t e r c an t a l k i n -t o t h e l oo p , U su a ll y , t h i s t a l k c a p a b i l i t y i s given to B e r -muda j u s t p r i o r t o and im m ed ia te ly a f t e r l i f t o f f and is t h e ng i v en , i n su cces s i o n , t o t h e s i t e w h i c h h a s th e c a p s u l e i nview. Thus, t h e F l i g h t C o n t r o l l e r s a t t h e s i t e which is i nc o n t a c t w i th t h e c a p s u l e can t a l k d i r e c t l y t o t h e F l i g h t Con-t r o l l e r s a t t h e C o n t ro l C e n t e r and, if t r a n s m i s s i o n c o n d i t i o n sp e r mi t , t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n be tw een t h e a s t r o n a u t and t h e CapsuleCommunicator a t th e capsule-in-view s i t e may be monitored byt h e whole vo ic e network.

Th e l o ca t i o n s of some radar and command s i t e s a r e s u cht h a t a n o v e r l a p a r e a exists f o r ra da r and command t r a n s m i t te rcoverage, I f t w o s i t e s send commands simultaneously, o r i fr a d a r b eac on i n t e r r o g a t i o n s a r e s e n t s i m u lt a ne o u sl y i n t h e s eove r l ap a r e a s , t h e c a p s u l e i n s t r u m e n t a t i o n c o u ld be s e r i o u s l ydi sr up te d , Voice communications a r e used between any t w o suchs i t e s d u r i n g a miss ion t o a vo id a ny p o s s i b l e c o n f l i c t i n be a-con responses or command s ig n a ls . By t h i s means, t h e termi-n a t i o n of co man d and r ad a r b eaco n t r i g g e r i n g t r an sm i s s i o n sa+, o_?es i t e is timed to he m l y 2 few secr\nds hefare trz.!smis-s i o n a t t h e n ex t s i t e s t a r t s . To a rr an g e f o r t h i s c a p a b i l i t y ,t h e SCAMA opera to r connects t h e t w o s t a t i o n s t o g e th e r a t t h ep r o p e r t i m e by means of c o r d c i r c u i t s on t h e sw it chb o a rd .

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REAL TIMI?, COMPUTING SYSTEM FOR MANNED SPACE FLXGHTAs p a r t of t h e Manned Space F l i g h t program, it was nec-

e s s a ry t o bu i l d a g round i n s t rume n t a t i on s ys tem t o p r o v i d e a l lt h e func t i ons f o r ground co n t r o l and mon i t o r i ng of t h e f l i g h tfrom l i f t o f f t o l an din g. The h ea r t o f t h i s t r a ck i ng netw orki s a r e a l t i m e computing s y s t e m t o pr ov id e r e a l t i m e c o n t r o lof th e manned miss ion , Thi s concept involves th e r e a l t i m eg a t h e r i n g of da t a , p roces si ng t h a t in fo rma t i on , and t r a n s m i t -t i n g and d i s p l a y i n g t h e c omputed o u t p u t q u a n t i t i e s , , w i t h o u thuman intervent ion,

Two p r i n c i p a l t y p e s of p r e c i s i o n t r a c k i n g r a d ar s a r e be-ing used t o a u t o m a t i ca l l y t r a c k t h e c a p s u le , t h e AN/FPS-16 CBand and th e VERLORT S Band r a d a r ,

One IB M 7090 and one 7094 Computer, operat ing i n p a r a l l e l ,h a v e been L n s t a l l e d a t Goddard S p ace F l i g h t C e n te r t o d r i v ed i g i t a l d i s p l a y s and p l o t bo ar ds a t t h e C o n tr o l C e n t e r whichs upp l y t h e neces s a ry i n fo rma t i on t o co n t ro l t h e mi s si on . Thec o n t r o l l i n k b etw een d a t a s o u rc e s and d a t a p r o c e s si n g i n t h eo v e r a l l p r o j e c t c om pu ta tio n is t h e IBM Data CommunicztionsChannel ( D C C ) a rou t in g d ev ice which makes r e a l t im e oper a-

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t i o n p o s si b le .C e n t e r a r e each connected by 2 PCC t o r a d a r s i t e s and s ource scompris ing t h e r e a l t i m e t r a ck i n g and i n s t rum en t a t i o n syst em,During a m i s s i o n a l l i n fo rm at io n t r a n s m i t t e d to t h e computersi s a u t o m a t i c a l l y s t a ck e d up i n computer core s t o r a g e by t h eDCC as it i s received. A l l o u t p u t s are t r a n s m i t t e d b ac kt h r o u g h t h e DCC t o t h e r e q u i r e d d e s t i n a t i o n s , The DCC t h u spenni ts t h e computer t o t r a r - s m i t and r ece i ve d a t a au toma ti -c a l l y w h i l e s i m u lt a ne o u sl y p ro c ee d in g w i t h t h e r e a l t i m e c o m -p u t i n g ,

T h e computers located a t t h e Goddard Computing

A manned space f l i g h t miss io n is u s u a l l y co n s id e re d i nterns of

1.

2 ,

3 .

v a r i o u s s tages which a r e def ine d as fo l lows :Prelaunch - ex t ends fo r a p e r i o d of t e n d ay sp r i o r t o a miss ion to l i f t o f f during whicht i m e t e s t s , equipment checks and simulat ionsare p erfo rm ed t o a s s u r e t h e t r a c k i n g and com-put ing sys tem are a t t h e a c c e p t a b l e l e v e l ofr e a d i n e s s f c r t h e miss ion.Launch - extends f r o m l i f t o f f u n t i l t h e f l i g h tp a s s e s i n t o e i t h e r abort o r o r b i t mode, Thecomputer recommends a G O o r K-C-GO a f t e r s us -t a i n e r engine c u t o f f w h i c h iiidzh t h e eric? ~ft he l aunch phase.Abort - an ea r l y t e rmi na t i on o f t h e l aunch phase


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which extends t o t h e time of escape tower f i r in g

4,

5 ,

o r r e t r o f i r e ,O r b i t - b e g i n s when a GO dec i s ion i s :made'and t h eo r b i t p ha se is se le cte d by C ontrol Center person-n e l , It e x t e nds t o r e t ro f i r e .Re-entrv - extends from r e t ro f i re t o capsu lelanding,

The radar data i s t randmit ted from the radar s i t e s t oGoddard via te le type (TTY) l i n e s which a r e cable, hard w i r e ,rad io links, or microwave links. The communication equip-ment routes t h e d a t a TTY messages d i r e c t l y t o t h e Data Com-munication Channel and d i r e c t l y t o t h e b lock i n memory oft h e computer where it is t o be stored awai t ing processing.This i s performed autom atically without human in ter ve nt io n.

MONITOR SYSTEMThe control system which directs the sequence of computer

ope ra t i ons i n r e a l t i m e i s th e monitor , V e r y s imply s ta ted,t h e Monitor Control Program cont rol s and coordina tes the ac-ceptance of inpu t da ta which ar r i v es on an asynchronous sched-u l e , performs t h e proper computation on th e in pu t inform ationand p rov idds t h e r e qu ir e d ou t put qu a n t i t i e s a t t h e s pe c i f i e dkime i n t e r v a l s .

SIMULATION

For exercise and p r a c ti c e purp oses, missions may be s i m -37


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ula t ed ,may be played from Canaveral i n r e a l t i m e t o ,t he Goddard com-puters which simulate t h e powered f l i g h t phase of t h e mission.Recorded radar data on punched paper tape for each radar s i t ei s played in to t h e Goddard computer on sc en ar io over t h e t e l e -type l i n e s for a par t icula r s imula ted miss ion, A l l di sp l aysa t t h e Cont rol Center a r e ac t iva ted dur ing s imula tion and a l l 'a c qu i s i t i on da t a a r e sent t o t h e s i t e s . This permits f u l lnetwork p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n s im ula te d d r i l l s p r i o r t o a m iss ionand prepara t ion for f u t u r e missions,

A l l n ec es sa q d a ta a r e s tored on magnetic t ap e and

SMITHSOmAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY TRACKING STATIONS

As a f u r t h e r method of obta in ing the pos i t i on o f an e a r t hs a t e l l i t e , th e Smithsonian Ast rophys ica l Observa tory ope ra tes ,under a grant from N A S A , 12 op t i c a l t r a c k ing s t a t i o ns , The12 Baker-Nunn photographic trac ki ng st a t i o n s ar e loc ated i nArcjentiza; ,9astr=rli;r;Curacao, Netherlands W e s t I n d i e s ; Flor-id a ; Hawaii: In di a; I r a n ; Japan: N ew Mexico; P eru; South A fri ca ;and Spain. Each s t a t i o n has a stan da rd complement of six ob-


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--

s e r v e r s .i s t r a t i v e s t a f f i n Cambridge, Massachusetts,

The network is supported by a tec hn ica l and admin-

Each s ta t ion i s equipped with a Baker-Nunn camera s p e c i a l l yd e s i g n e d fo r t h e photographic t racking of a r t i f i c i a l ear th sat-e l l i t e s ,camera, with a f o c a l l e n g t h of 50 an, and a f i e l d of viewSo x 30.co n t ro l l a b l e ra t e and can photograph s a t e l l i t e s t o t h e t h i r -te en th magnitude. The f o c a l f i e l d i s s p h e r i ca l : a 56-mm f i lm

The instrument i s a thr ee -ax is Super-Schmidt f / l

The camera can t rac k a long any g r ea t c i r c l e a t a

s t r e t c h ed on a fo ca l s p h e r i ca l s u r f ace s e rv es f o r t h e emuls io nsupport . A t t h e s c a l e of 406 seconds of a rc p er mm of f i l m ,the camera i s capable of prov id ing d i re c t io ns wi th an accuracyof 2 seconds of ar c.

Using t he p re d ic t io ns t h a t t h e Cambridge s t a f f s p ec i a l l yde te rmines and c a b l e s t o each s t a t i o n , t h e o b s er v er s se t t h ecamera so t h a t i t w i l l follow t h e s a t e l l i t e a t t h e c o rr ec tv e l o c i t y . T h i s i s necessary because many of the sa t e l l i t e sa re ex t r eme l y f a i n t and cannot be photographed with a f ixedcamera,

T o da te , no s a t e l l i t e o rb i t i n g t h e ea r t h h as exceededt h e range c a p a b i l i t y of th e Baker-Nunn camera, Vanguard I ,t h e s ix - in c h " g r a p e f r u i t " s a t e l l i t e , was photographed at dis-t ances up to 3000 mi l es .

A t pre sen t , th e Baker-Nunn cameras s a t i s f a c t o r i l y photo-' 39


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grap h more th an 2000 s a t e l l i t e passages each month, an ou tp utt h a t i s t h e r e s u l t o f c o n s t a n t im provem ent i n s t a t i o n e f f i -c iency . On t h e a v er ag e , of each 100 pa s s ages p red i c t e d , abou t35 a re observed , 40 a r e l o s t because of weathe r , and t he re-mainder a re no t obse rved fo r mi s ce l laneous t e ch n i ca l r e a sons .

By p r o j e c t i n g t h e f i l m on s t a r ch a r t s , t h e obs e rve r makesa f i e l d measurement from each photographed arc, a n d p r o m p t l y 'cables t h e r e s u l t t o Cambridge. Thes e f i e ld - r educed po s i t i o nsa re a c c u r a t e t o within about two minutes of a r c and one -t ent hsecond of t i m e ; t h i s is s u f f i c i e n t f o r g e n er a t i n g r o u t i n e pre-d i c t i o n s a nd f o r s o m e s c i e n t i f i c work. The f i l m s a re t hena i r m a i l e d t o t h e P h o to r e du c t io n D i v i s i o n i n C am bridge.

Even though it exceeds t h e l e v e l f o r which t h e networkw a s o r i g i n a l l y c o n ce iv e d, t h e p r e s e n t o u t p u t o f t h e Baker-N unn s t a t i ons r e f l e c t s t h e o b s e r v a t i o n a l re q u ir e m e nt s o f t h es a t e l l i t e t r a c k i n g pro gram , r a t h e r t h a n t h e a c t u a l c a p a c i t yof t h e s t a t io n s . W i t h changes i n o rg an i za t i on and t e chn ique ,it should be p o s s i b l e t o r eco rd a t o t a l o f app roxi ma te l y 4000s a t e l l i t e t r a n s i t s each month--more tha n a r e ne ce ssa ry t o keepcont inuous watch on a l l s a t e l l i t e s t h a t a r e now o bs er va bl e byo p t i c a l means on l y . The system i s capable of c o n t r i b u t i n g t oo t h e r i n v e s t i g a t i o il s , s-a& 5 s L*--l.r'l L I l W A r r r y-- i3+ - * * A ;u u - ~ b uc , m n n n m y a i - ivvy-- --- rer a d i o - o p t i c a l o b - e r v a t i o n s of f l a r e s t a r s , c on ti nu o us watchon comets , rock et-laun ch photography, and as te : oid counts .

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,An attempt has been made to photograph the Lagrangian cloudsreported by K. Kordylewski.

The present 12 stations offer an excellent tool f o r geo-detic work, although their importance in this area would beenhanced if observations were available from a few more sta-tions in order to provide better geographical distribution,particularly in higher latitudes. For three-dimensional geo-0detic triangulation, special mechanical and electronic equip-ment has been installed to permit simultaneous observationsfrom t w o or more stations.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDManned Space Fliqht

The first NASA manned space program, Project Mercury, wasorganized on October 7, 1958, to:

a. Place a manned space capsule in orbital flightaround the earth:

b, Investigate m a n ' s reactions to and c a p a b i l i t i z sin this environment; and

c. Recover t h e capsule and pilot safely,41


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F or Pr o j e c t Mercury, Goddard des igned and operated a g lo-b a l r i n g of s t a t i o n s which p r ov id e d v i t a l t r a c k i n g , t e l e m e t r y ,and ground voice communicat ion on a " r e a l - t i m e " b a s i s . T h e fo -c a l p o i n t of t h i s i n t e g r a t ed co mmu ni ca tio ns sy s tem w a s Goddard'sS p ace C o n t r o l C en t e r ,o r b i t s , re du ce d s c i e n t i f i c and bio-medical d a t a , and commandeda vo ice ne twork ( S CAMA ) which l in ke d t e n s t a t i o n s i n th e Mann'edSpace F l i g h t Network . Dual u l t r a- h i gh speed 7090 IBM computer%each with a " rea l - t im e" channel , made co ns t a n t f l i g h t c o n t i n -gency rec om en da t io ns , computed t h e p r e - d i r e c t e d f l i g h t p a t h

It d e t e m i n e d and p r e d i c t e d s a t e l l i t e

and impact po in t s of t h e capsu le , and th e v e l o c i t y vec tors ona near - ins t an taneous , con t inuous b a s i s d u r i n g these m i s s i o n s ,

D urin g t h e s s f l i g h t s , i n f or m a t io n fl ow ed i n t o th e GoddardSpace Computing Ce nte r f rom t r a ck in g and ground i ns t ru me nta t io np o i n t s around t h e globe a t t h e ra te , i n some cases, of m o r et h a n 1,000 b i t s p e r second. Upon almost i n s t an t an eo u s an a l y -s i s , t h e i n f o r ma t i o n w a s r e l a y e d t o Mercury Co n t ro l a t CapeCanavera l .

The Mercury Network, be ca us e of th e man factor, demandedm o r e than any o t h e r t r a ck i n g sys tem, M ercury mi s s i o n s r eq u i r edin s t an ta ne ou s communicat ion . Tracking and telemetered d a t a h adt o be co l l e c t ed , p r o cessed , and ac t ed upon i n as neax " r e a l -t i m e " as p o s s i b l e .co n t i n u o u s l y f r o m t h e moment of l i f t o f f ,

42

The p o s i t i o n of t h e v e h i c l e had t o be known


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A f t e r i n j e c t i o n o f t h e Mercury s p a c e c r a f t i n t o o r b i t , o r-b i t a l e le men ts w e r e computed and predic t ion of;, look" informa-t i o n p as se d t o t h e n e x t t r a c k i n g s i t e so t h e s t a t i o n c o u l d ac-quire t h e s p a c e c r af t ,

During l a t e 1961, an i n d u s t r i a l team headed by t h e WesternE l e c t r i c Company turned over t h i s $60 mi l l i on g loba l networkt o t h e Nat io na l A eronaut ics and Space Adminis t ra t ion .

Other team m e m b e r s w e r e B e l l Telephone Laborator ies , Inc . ;t h e Bendix Co rpo rat ion ; Burns and R o e , I n c ,; and I n t e r n a t i o n a lBusiness Machines Corporat ion. A t t h e same t i m e , t h e LincolnLaboratories o f t h e M a s s a c h u s e t t s I n s t i t u t e of Technology a l -so adv i s ed and a s s i s t e d on s p e c i a l t e c h n i c a l p ro blem s r e l a t e dt o t h e network.

The c o nc lu d in g c o n t r a c t i nv o lv e d e x t e n s i v e n e g o t i a t i o n sw i t h Federal a g en c ie s, p r i v a t e i n d u s t r y , and r e p r e s e n t a t i v e sof many fo re i gn co u n t r i e s i n t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t of t r a c k i n gand g round i n s t rumen t a t i on .

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H i s t o r i c a l ly , t h e f i r s t f u n c ti o n a l netw ork t o be con-s t ru c t e d f o r s a t e l l i t e t ra c ki ng w a s the "Mini t rack" network.This network grew di rect ly o u t of a rrangements o r i g in a l lymade by th e Uni ted S ta te s wi th agencies abroad as p a r t ofth e program f o r th e I n te rna t io na l Geophysica l Year,t h e ov er se a s s t a t i o n s t i e d i n w ith t h e s a t e l l i t e tr ac ki ngnetwork w e r e Antigua, Bri t i sh W e s t Indies: Quito, Ecuador;Lima, P e r u ; Antofagas ta and Santiago, Chile; Woomera, A u s -t r a l i a : a n d E s s e l e n Park, Republic of South Af r ic a , Thesec o u n t r i e s , i n a program or ig ina l ly es tab l i shed i n 1957 byt h e U , S, Naval Research Laboratory i n coopera t ion w i t ho t h e r ag en c i e s h e re and a bro ad , a l l h e lp ed t o c r e a t e t h e"Mini t rack" te l em etr y sys ern

Among

T h e b a s i c r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s of t h e Min itrack Networkincluded: Tracking, O r b i t Computation, Data Ac qu isi t ion(Environmental and S c i e n t i f i c T ele m etr y) # and Data R e -duct i o n -

The Minitrack Net, has been used t o t ra ck a l l NASAs a t e l l i t e s c o n t a i n i n g a s u i t a b l e beacon s in ce th e program

41+

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDMinitrack N e t


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began i n 1957 and 1958.A l a r g e p e rc e nt ag e of th e o r i g i n a l s t a t i o n s w e r e l o c a t e d

along the 75th meridian t o i n te r c e p t s a t e l l i t e o r b i t s w ithi n c l i n a t i o n s o f l ess than 4S0, New Sta t io ns have been lo ca te di n h i g h er l a t i t u d e s t o cope w ith h i g h er o r b i t a l i n c l i n a ti o n s .Furthermore, it i s planned t o supplement t e n of t h e s t a t i o n sw i t h a d d i t i o n a l a n te nn as a li gn e d s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r p o l a r o r b i t ,

S ince th e es tab l i shment o f t h e ne twork , c er t a in improve-m e n t s have been made t o t h e o r i g i n a l s t a t i o n equipm ent t o p ro -v i d e t ra c k in g c a p a b i l i t y by optical and Doppler means, h % i l et h e o r i g i n a l t r ac k i n g equipment o p e ra t ed on o r n ea r 1 C 8 MC( t he frequency ass igne d for IGY a c t i v i t i e s ) 8 ad d i t i o n a l equip-

m e n t h as been provided t u n e a b l e over t h e 136-137 MC reg on.A l t h o u g h b as i ca l l y t h e same, it i n c o rp o r a te s c e r t a i n f e a t u r e swhich fu r th er incre ase i t s c a p a b i l i t y ,

45


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H I S T O R I C A L BACKGROUNDD e e p Space Ins t rumentat ion Network

The J e t P ro p ul si on L a bo ra to ry l o c a t e d i n t h e f o o t h i l l sof t h e S i e r r a Madre mo un ta in s i n Pasadena , C a l i f o r n i a , w a sas s i g n ed , w h i l e u nd er c o n t r a c t t o t h e U, S , Army i n 1958,t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i ty of l au n ch i n g a se r i e s of s p a c e c r a f t t oex pl or e t h e moon envi ronment ,f o o t p a r ab o l i c an t en n a was p e rman ent ly i n s t a l l e d a t Gold-s t o n e , C a l i f o r n i a , i n a n a t u r a l b o w l i n t h e mountains a b o u t150 m i l e s n o r t h e a s t of Pasadena, and a m o b i l e s t a t i o n wasc o n s t r u c t e d a n d used i n w e st e rn P u e r to R i c o , T h e s e s t a t i o n ssu cces s f u l l y acco mp l i sh ed t h e i r ob j e c t i v e of t r a c k i n g s p a c ep r o b s s P i o n e e r s 111 and I V , T h e equipmer.t used in t ' r ie s t a -t i o n s was based c n t h e use of p h ase l o ck ed r ece i v e r s w h i c hhad been dzve lcped a t ZPL in 1355 for t h e Microlock Eysten.

For t h i s purpose a l a r g e 85-

S h o r t l y a f t e r t h e s e f l i g h t s , t h e J e t P r o p u l s i o n L a b c r a -t o r y , o p e r a t e d by t h e C a l i f o r n i a I n s t i t u t e of TeChnOlOgy, wastrai:sfe>;xr:y. 2 : i ~ 3 - r i s A i c t i a r i of the R a t i o n a l Aerorauticsand Space Admin i s t r a t ion ( S A S A ) . Under NASA, ZPL has been

46

g i v en t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of unmanned explorat ion of deeps p a c e a t l u n a r d i s t an ce s and beyo nd , T o acco mpl ish t h i s


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'o b j e c t i v e , J P L h a s planned and implemented a se r i e s of l u n a rex p l o r a t io n p rog rams under t h e names of Ranger, Surveyor andProspector , and a s e r i e s of planet? . ry programs under thenames of Mariner and Voyager.

I n o r d e r t o c o n ti n uo u sl y t r a c k , r e c e i v e t e l e m e t r y d a t aand command t he se s p acec ra f t , arrangements were made i n 1959t o c o n s t ru c t t r a c k i n g s t a t i o n s in A u s t r a l i a a nd i n S o ut h Af-r i c a t o supplement t h e one i n G o ld s to ne , C a l i f o r n i a . 8 5- fo ota n t e n n a s s i m i l a r t o t h e o ne a t G o l ds to ne w e r e i n s t a l l e d a tt h e s z s t a t i o n s ,

I n 15.60, JPL and t h e B e l l Telephone L a b o r a t c r i L s :,-zr-Lic-i p a t e d i n t h e P r o j e c t Echo s pa ce communicat ion experiment .For t h i s purpose , a second 85-foct an ten na w a s i n s t a l l e d a tt h e Go ld st on e s t a t i o n t o t r a n s mi t a n d r e c e i v e c o mmun ic at io ns

s i g n a l s b y means of t h e Echo balloon t o t h e B e l l TelephoneLab o r a t o r i e s s t a t i o n i n New J e r s e y . S i n c e t h e n , t h i s antennahas beer, moved t o a new s i t e , a l s o a t Golds tone, and a secondan tenna f o r o p e r a t i o n a l u s e w i t h d e e p space s p a c e c r a f t h a sbee n i n s t a l l e d i n i t s p l a c e . P l a n s a r e p r e s e n t l y un de rw ayf o r supplementary 85-foot a n t e n n a s i n t w o new t r ack ing s t a -t i o n s n e ar t h e same l o n g i t u d e s as t h e Sou th Af r i ca and Aus-+_rl-lFs S+_..tions ~

The equipment and th e ty pe of a n t e n n a s u se d i n t h e DeepS pa ce I n s t r u m e n t at i o n F a c i l i t y w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y d es ig ne d

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f o r communicat ion wi th deep spac e p robes . Opera t ions i n deepspace requ i red p rec i s ion angu lar measurement s , , very low s y s -tem n o i se , v e r y e f f i c i e n t t e l e me t r y sy st ems and ex t reme l y s en -s i t i v e r ec e i ve rs . The DSIF w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y w e l l ad ap t ed f o rco n ti n uo u s h i g h r e l i a b i l i t y commun icatio ns w i t h s p a c e c r a f t a td i s t an ce s o f ap pr o xi mat el y 10,000 m i l e s a bo ve t h e e a r t h a ndbzyond. Although t h e DSIF was des igned f o r use wi th deepsp ace p r o bes , it h a s been u sed o c ca s i o n a l l y f o r commun icatio nsw i th n e a r e a r t h s a t e l l i t e s a nd so un din g ro c k e t s .

PAYLOADMAJOR SPACE SCXENCE EXPERIMENTS

LAUNCH SIGNIFICANCE

AstronomyAerobee 25 Nov. 1 7 , 1955 Detected u l t r a v i o l e t s i g n a l sfrom s tar othe r than t h e sun.Aerobee 31 Mar. 28, 1957 Discovered ne bu lo s i t i e s : mea-s u r e d d e f i c i en c y i n s t e l l a r

u l t r a v i o l e t e m i s s i o n s .A e r ~ h e p 2 1 1 NOV, 22, 1961 Provided u l t r a v i o l e t s p e c t r aof 15 p r e s el e c te d s t a r s .Exp1 re r 11 Apr. 27 , 1961 Made f i r s t gamma r a y s p e c t r a lmeasurements.


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Cosmic DustExplorers 1,

38 8, and 13

Vanguard 3

Ionosphere

Counted mikrometeoroid i m -p a c t s an6 meas ured ve l oc i t i e sa t impact .'

Expl o re r 8 NOVe 3 , 1960 F i r s t d i r e c t e v i d e n c e of h e l i -um band a round t h e ea r t h :f i r s t s a t e l l i t e t o measu ree l e c t r o n t em p e ra tu r e: de te r -m ined t h a t i o n o s p h e r i c elec-t r o n t em p e ra tu r e v a r i e s byt i m e of day.

A r i e l Apr, 26, 1962 Found e l e c t ro n t empe ra t u res t obe G r e a te r a t t h e h i gh e r l a t i -t u d e s

P-21 probe act , 19, 1 96 1 V e r i f i e d e x i s t e n c e of h e l i u mions .P - 2 1 A probe >lar , 298 1962 Same as P-21,Scout TV-2 O c t o 4, 1960 Same a s P-21,

E n e r q et i c P a r t i c l e sExp l o re r 1 J a n , 31, 1958 Discovered Van A l l e n Radia-t i o n B e l t .Expl o re r 3 Mar. 25, 1958 V er if ie d Van Al len B e l t ex-i stence,Expl o re r 4 J u l , 26, 1958 Pound t h a t i n n e r b e l t zonec o n s i s t s m ain ly of p e n e t r a t -ing (h igh-energy) pro tons .Expl o re r 6 Aug. 7 , 1959 Detec ted e l e c t r i c a l r i n gc u r r e n t c i r c l i n g o u t e r b e l tzone,


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PAYLOAD SIGNIFICANCE

E n e r s e t i c P a r t i c l e s ( con t .Ex p l o r e r 7 O c t . 13, 1959 Xonito red majo r s o l a r storms i mu l t an eo us l y w i t h P i o n ee r5 probe (see b e l o w ) ; d e t e c t e dlo w-ene rg y e l ec t r o n s i n o u t e rzone.Ex p l o r e r 1 2 Aug . 15, 1961 Upset Ex plo rer 7 d a t a byf in d in g t h a t t h e o u t e r zone'c o ns i s t s main ly o f low-energyp r o t o n s .I n j u n

P i o n ee r 1

P i o n ee r 3

P i o n ee r 4

P i o n ee r 5

Magnet i c F ie ldsP i o n ee r 3

Jun. 29, 1961 Disc over ed and mon itored hi ghi n t e n s i t y r a d i a t i o n b e l tformed by J u l y 9, 1962, U . S .n u c l e a r t e s t d e t o n a t i o n .

O c t . 11, 1358 Found t h a t t h e o u t e r Ven AllenB e l t l i m i t v a r i e s w i t h s o l a rwind .

D e c . 6, 1958 Discovered what was thought t obe a se co nd d i s t i n c t r a d i a t i o nzone.

Mar. 3, 1959 Confirmed Pio ne er 3 and Explor-e r 7 d a t a .

Mar. 11, 1960 Re gis ter ed Forbush decrease( d e c r e a s e i n cosmic r a y i n t e n -s i t y ) a f t e r s o l a r f l a r e : mea-s u r e d r i n g c u r r e n t s f o u c d byExplo rer 6 ; measured magneticf i e l d and p e n e t r a t i n g p r o t o n sin deep space .

O c t . 11, 1958 Found d i s t u r b e d transition be-tween e a r t h s magnet ic . f i e l d53 ,000-mi le a l t i t ude .* and i n t e r p l a n e t a r y s p a c e a t


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. PAYLOAD LAUNCH

Maqnet ic Fie lds (c on t . )Exp lorer 10 Mar, 25, 1961

Explorer 12 AUg, 158 1961

PAYLOAD

C o s m i c Radiat ionNerv

LAUNCH

SIGNIFICANCE

Discovered d rap ing e f fe c t o fthe e a r t h ' s m a gne tic f i e l d onth e dark s i de ; cro ssed magne-tosp here a t 86 ,000-mile a l t i -t u d eFound t h a t m ag ne tic f i e l d ont h e s u n l i t s i d e " b re at he s, Iav erag in g an a l t i t u d e o f40,000 m i l e s .

SIGNIFICANCE

D e t e m i n e d t h a t n u c l e i r a t i o sd i f f e r i n r ay s from t h e sunand rays from s t a r s ou t s id et h e g a la x y,

Solar Radia t ionO rb i t i n g Solar M a r . 78 1962 Conf nned r oc k et d a t a t h a tO b se rv ato ry s o l a r r ad i a t i o n i s emit tedfrom b r i g h t s p o t s on t h esun, which cons t i tu te o n l y3% of the solar s u r f a c e ,

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ROSMAN DATA A C Q U I S I T I O N F A C I L I T Y

The 85' antenna shown here weighs 300 tons and stands 12stories high (120').ellite signals from 3 different frequencies simultaneously.When coupled to the electronic data system, the antenna willlock onto the satellite s i g n a l and follow it across the skyautomatically.52

It will be capable of receiving sat-


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T R A C K I N G SELP ROSE KNOT

This ship functions as a mobile telemetry station in supportof manned spaceflight missions. It h a s both reception and"command" capabilities.

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BAKER-"M CAMERA

O p e r a t i o n of t h e c amera a t t h e s t a t i o n i n S h i ra z , I r a n , ise x p l ai n e d t o the Shah of I r a n a n d p a r t y , 4/26/59. Baker-Nunnc ame ra s a r e o p e r a t e d by t h e S m i th s on i an A s t r o p h y s i c a l Observ-a t o r y u nd e r N A S A g r a n t t o o p t i c a l l y t r a c k a nd ph o to g ra p h sp ac e-c r a f t .54


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MINITRACK

External view of the Blossom Point, Maryland, Tracking Stationshowing from the left: an experimental 16 element Yagi antenna:Minitrack antennas (next to the building); and the OperationsBuilding.55


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MERCURY T R A C K I N G STATION, GUAYMAS, MEXICO

Quad-helix telemetry antenna and mobile power supply.


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MINITRACK STATION, Q U I T O , ECUADOR

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M I N I T R A C K , WINKFIELD, ENGLAND

C a l i b r a t i o n C a m e r a


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e

MERCURY TRACKING ,STATION, WALLOPS ISLANI), V I R G I N I A

Telemetry receiving equipment.

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MERCURY TRACKING STATION, KANO, N I G E R I A

- Nigerian tribesman playing native Hausa Flute.nationals are.employed a t the Kano tracking s ta ti on .Many Nigerian

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D E E P S P A C E I NS TR U ME N TA T IO N F A C I L I T Y ( D S I F )'ECW-P-q, ALTSTR_AT,IA

D S I F ' S a r e u s e d p r i m a r i ly for t r a c k i n g a n d d a t a a c q u i s i t i o ni n s up p o r t of t h e NASA l u n a r a n d p l a n e t a ry p ro g ra ms .

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',

D E E P SP A C E I NST RU M E NT A TI ON F A C I L I T Y ( D S I F )GOLDSTONE CALIFORNIA

Space Tracking

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