欢迎深空网络的新成员

A powerful new antenna has been added to the NASA Space Communications and Navigation’s Deep Space Network (DSN), which connects us to the space robots exploring our solar system. Called Deep Space Station 56, or DSS-56, the dish is now online and ready to communicate with a variety of missions, including NASA’s Perseverance rover when it lands on the Red Planet next month.

The new 34-meter-wide (112-foot-wide) dish has been under construction at the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex in Spain since 2017. Existing antennas are limited in the frequency bands they can receive and transmit, often restricting them to communicating only with specific spacecraft. DSS-56 is the first to use the Deep Space Network’s full range of communication frequencies as soon as it went online. This means DSS-56 is an “all-in-one” antenna that can communicate with all the missions that the DSN supports and can be used as a backup for any of the Madrid complex’s other antennas.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA空间通信与导航系统的深空网络(DSN)中已添加了功能强大的新天线，该网络将我们与探索太阳系的空间机器人连接起来。这个名为“深空56号空间站”或DSS-56的装置现已上线，可以与各种任务进行通信，包括下个月降落在红色星球上的NASA的毅力号火星车。

自2017年以来，这个34米（112英尺）宽的天线一直在西班牙马德里深空通信中心建设。现有天线的接收和发射频带有限，常常限制它们只能与特定的航天器通信。DSS-56是第一个一上线就使用深空网络全范围通信频率的系统。这意味着DSS-56是一种一体化天线，可以与深空网络支持的所有任务通信，并且可以用作马德里综合大楼其他任何天线的备用天线。

图片来源：NASA / JPL-Caltech