Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
Antenna to link up CubeSat chains
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Main Takeaways:
New 66-foot-wide antenna dishes will be built, online, and operational in time to provide near-continuous communications services to Artemis astronauts at the Moon later this decade. Called LEGS, short for Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, the antennas represent critical infrastructure for NASA’s vision of supporting a sustained human presence at the Moon. The first three of six proposed LEGS are planned for sites in New Mexico, South Africa, and Australia. LEGS will become part of NASA’s Near Space Network, managed by the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program and led out of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Background:
NASA’s LEGS can do more than help Earthlings move about the planet.
Three Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, or LEGS, will enhance the Near Space Network’s communications services and support of NASA’s Artemis campaign.
NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program maintains the agency’s two primary communications networks — the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network, which enable satellites in space to send data back to Earth for investigation and discovery.
Using antennas around the globe, these networks capture signals from satellites, collecting data and enabling navigation engineers to track the mission. For the first Artemis mission, these networks worked in tandem to support the mission as it completed its 25-day journey around the Moon. They will do the same for the upcoming Artemis II mission.
To support NASA’s Moon to Mars initiative, NASA is adding three new LEGS antennas to the Near Space Network. As NASA works toward sustaining a human presence on the Moon, communications and navigation support will be crucial to each mission’s success. The LEGS antennas will directly support the later Artemis missions, and accompanying missions like the human landing system, lunar terrain vehicle, and Gateway.
The Gateway space station will be humanity’s first space station in lunar orbit as a vital component of the Artemis missions to return humans to the Moon for scientific discovery and chart a path for humans to Mars.NASA “One of the main goals of LEGS is to offload the Deep Space Network,” said TJ Crooks, LEGS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The Near Space Network and its new LEGS antennas will focus on lunar missions while allowing the Deep Space Network to support missions farther out into the solar system — like the James Webb Space Telescope and the interstellar Voyager missions.”
The Near Space Network provides communications and navigation services to missions anywhere from near Earth to 1.2 million miles away — this includes the Moon and Sun-Earth Lagrange points 1 and 2. The Moon and Lagrange points are a shared region with the Deep Space Network, which can provide services to missions there and farther out in the solar system.
An artist’s rendering of a lunar terrain vehicle on the surface of the Moon.NASA The LEGS antennas, which are 66 feet in diameter, will be strategically placed across the globe. This global placement ensures that when the Moon is setting at one station, it is rising into another’s view. With the Moon constantly in sight, the Near Space Network will be able to provide continuous support for lunar operations.
How it Works:
As a satellite orbits the Moon, it encodes its data onto a radio frequency signal. When a LEGS antenna comes into view, that satellite (or rover, etc.) will downlink the signal to a LEGS antenna. This data is then routed to mission operators and scientists around the globe who can make decisions about spacecraft health and orbit or use the science data to make discoveries.
The LEGS antennas are intended to be extremely flexible for users. For LEGS-1, LEGS-2, and LEGS-3, NASA is implementing a “dual-band approach” for the antennas that will allow missions to communicate using two different radio frequency bands — X-band and Ka-band. Typically, smaller data packets — like telemetry data — are sent over X-band, while high-resolution science data or imagery needs Ka-band. Due to its higher frequency, Ka-band allows significantly more information to be downlinked at once, such as real-time high-resolution video in support of crewed operations.
LEGS will directly support the Artemis campaign, including the Lunar Gateway, human landing system (HLS), and lunar terrain vehicle (LTV).NASA Further LEGS capacity will be sought from commercial service providers and will include a “tri-band approach” for the antennas using S-band in addition to X- and Ka-band.
The first LEGS ground station, or LEGS-1, is at NASA’s White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico. NASA is improving land and facilities at the complex to receive the new LEGS-1 antenna.
The LEGS-2 antenna will be in Matjiesfontein, South Africa, located near Cape Town. In partnership with SANSA, the South African National Space Agency, NASA chose this location to maximize coverage to the Moon. South Africa was home to a ground tracking station outside Johannesburg that played a role in NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon in the 1960s. The agency plans to complete the LEGS-2 antenna in 2026. For LEGS-3, NASA is exploring locations in Western Australia.
These stations will fully complement the existing capabilities of the Near and Deep Space Networks and allow for more robust communications services to the Artemis campaign.
The LEGS antennas (similar in appearance to this 20.2-meter CPI Satcom antenna) will be placed in equidistant locations across the globe. This ensures that when the Moon is setting at one station, it will be rising into another’s view. With the Moon constantly in sight, NASA’s Near Space Network will be able to support approximately 24/7 operations with Moon-based missions.CPI Satcom CPI Satcom is building the Lunar Exploration Ground Site (LEGS) antennas for NASA. The antennas will look very similar to the 20-meter antenna pictured here. CPI Satcom The Near Space Network is funded by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office at NASA Headquarters in Washington and operated out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
About the Author
Kendall Murphy
Technical WriterKendall Murphy is a technical writer for the Space Communications and Navigation program office. She specializes in internal and external engagement, educating readers about space communications and navigation technology.
5 Min Read Ground Antenna Trio to Give NASA’s Artemis Campaign ‘LEGS’ to Stand On
An artist’s rendering of astronauts working near NASA’s Artemis base camp, complete with a rover and RV. Credits: NASA Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 22, 2024 EditorKatherine SchauerContactKendall MurphyLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
General Artemis Communicating and Navigating with Missions Space Communications & Navigation Program Space Communications Technology Explore More
2 min read Working in Tandem: NASA’s Networks Empower Artemis I
Article 2 years ago 3 min read NASA Laser Communications Terminal Delivered for Artemis II Moon Mission
The laser communications system for NASA’s Artemis II mission arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center…
Article 1 year ago 4 min read NASA Search and Rescue Team Prepares for Safe Return of Artemis II Crew
When Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space…
Article 12 months ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
-
By NASA
ESA’s (European Space Agency) Ariane 6 rocket launches NASA’s CURIE CubeSat from Europe’s Spacesport, the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Photo credit: ESA/S. Corvaja NASA launched CURIE (CubeSat Radio Interferometry Experiment) as a rideshare payload on the inaugural flight of ESA’s (European Space Agency) Ariane 6 rocket, which launched at 4 p.m. GFT on July 9 from Europe’s Spaceport, the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, in French Guiana.
Designed by a team from the University of California, Berkeley, CURIE will use radio interferometry to study the primary drivers of space weather.
CubeSats are built using standardized units, with one unit, or 1U, measuring about 10 centimeters in length, width, and height. The two-satellite CURIE mission launched as a 6U before separating into two separate spacecraft, each a 3U. The spacecraft will provide two separate vantage points to measure the same radio waves coming from the Sun and other sources in the sky.
NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative selected CURIE in 2020 during the initiative’s 11th round of applications. NASA’s Launch Services Program, in collaboration with ESA, designated CURIE as one of eleven payloads supplied by space agencies, commercial companies, and universities for the first flight of ESA’s Ariane 6 rocket.
Image Credit: ESA/M. Pédoussaut
View the full article
-
By NASA
College students attend the 2023 Mission Concept kickoff event at Kennedy Space Center in Florida in May 2023. At the event students work with officials from NASA and branches of the U.S. military to learn more about creating CubeSat mission launch proposals.NASA EDGE Eight university teams have been selected to work with NASA and the U.S. military to improve their small satellite proposals, ultimately increasing the possibility of flying their technology in space, and potentially launching their own careers in the space industry.
NASA’s CSLI (CubeSat Launch Initiative) is partnering with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force for the 2024 Mission Concept Program. Running from May through August, the program will provide students with systems engineering training for spacecraft development. The partnership aims to prepare students to work in the space industry while simultaneously enhancing small satellite expertise among faculty at U.S. universities.
A total of 34 universities applied for the 2024 session. A mix of NASA, Air Force, and contractor personnel reviewed the proposals, selecting universities based on the educational impact, university program impact and development, minority outreach and support, and relevance to NASA or the Department of Defense. Three of this year’s awardees – University of Central Florida, Florida Atlantic University, and Tarleton State University – are Minority Serving Institutions. This year’s selections are:
University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Mississippi, Oxford Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton University of North Dakota, Grand Forks Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, Indiana Northeastern University, Boston West Virginia University, Morgantown Tarleton State University, Stephenville, Texas The teams will meet at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a four-day kickoff meeting in May, followed by seven weeks at the Air Force’s University Nanosatellite Program facilities in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where three students will serve as interns with the Space Dynamics Laboratory.
During the program, the students will work with small satellite experts for continuous feedback and guidance to help improve university proposals and increase those teams’ potential of being selected to fly to space as part of NASA’s CSLI or the Air Force’s nanosatellite opportunities.
Final presentations will take place in Albuquerque and, although not required, participants are encouraged to attend the Small Satellite Conference in Logan, Utah, in August. Both programs will make final selections for future flights in 2025.
The 2024 Mission Concept Program provides funding for all travel, including kickoff, final event, and in-person reviews, allowing faculty and students to formulate teams without straining university resources.
NASA uses CSLI as one if its ways to attract retain students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. This strengthens NASA’s and the nation’s future workforce. The initiative promotes and develops innovative technology partnerships among NASA, U.S. industry, and other sectors for the benefit of all.
Visit NASA’s CSLI website for more information:
https://go.nasa.gov/3PEP2Q6
View the full article
-
By European Space Agency
A small, shoebox-sized spacecraft delivered to ESA’s Hera mission this week promises to make a giant leap forward in planetary science. Once deployed from the Hera spacecraft at the Didymos binary asteroid system, the Juventas CubeSat perform the first radar probe within an asteroid, peering deep into the heart of the Great-Pyramid-sized Dimorphos moonlet.
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.