Deep Space Station 14 (DSS-14) "Mars Antenna"

 radio telescope  Add category

DSS-14 is a 70m antenna used primarily to communicate with spacecraft.



Deep Space Station 14 — informally dubbed the Mars antenna because its initial task, in 1966, was to track a spacecraft after it flew past Mars — spreads from the ground like a looming, 10-story poppy. Its most eye-catching element is its parabolic dish, which stretches nearly the length of a football field and weighs, struts and radio equipment included, nearly 2,000 tons.

Despite its heft, it easily tilts and twists as it tracks asteroids, rovers on distant planets, and probes rocketing as far as 11 billion miles away.

None can match Deep Space Station 14 for its combination of communications power and historical significance.




articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/03/local/la-me-deep-space...