NASA Deep Space Network Celebrates 50 Years of Communication and Exploration

NASA has officially celebrated 50 years of its Deep Space Network. First existing as just a few small antennas as part of the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility, this network has come a long way since then.

The Deep Space Instrumentation Facility was originally operated by the U.S. Army in the 1950s. It didn't morph into the Deep Space Network until Dec. 24 1963. After that point, it quickly became the de facto network for missions into deep space.

During its very first year of operation, this network communicated with three spacecraft--the Mariner 2, IMP-A and Atlas Centaur 2. Needless to say, its operations have grown significantly since then. These days, it communicates with 33 spacecraft via three antenna complexes located in California, Spain and Australia. These complexes maintain around-the-clock coverage of the solar system.

In fact, during the past 50 the antennas of the Deep Space Network have communicated with most of the missions that have gone to the moon and far into deep space. It relayed the moment when astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon, transmitted data from numerous encounters with the outer planets of our solar system, communicated images taken by rovers exploring Mars and relayed the data that confirmed that NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft had entered interstellar space. This network is also utilized for radio astronomy and radar observations of the solar system and the universe.

Yet the U.S. isn't the only country that relies on this network, either. Space agencies in Europe, Japan and Russia have used the Deep Space Network when planning and communicating with their own missions over the years. In addition, this network has recently been used by India's first interplanetary probe, the Mars Orbiter Mission.

Currently, NASA and researchers are hoping to see many years more for this network. It's likely to communicate with future missions to other planets, interplanetary space and beyond.