他们的力量结合在一起

MDSCC/INTA, Francisco “Paco” Moreno

This April 20, 2024, image shows a first: all six radio frequency antennas at the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex, part of NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN), carried out a test to receive data from the agency’s Voyager 1 spacecraft at the same time.

Combining the antennas’ receiving power, or arraying, lets the DSN collect the very faint signals from faraway spacecraft. Voyager 1 is over 15 billion miles (24 billion kilometers) away, so its signal on Earth is far fainter than any other spacecraft with which the DSN communicates. It currently takes Voyager 1’s signal over 22 ½ hours to travel from the spacecraft to Earth. To better receive Voyager 1’s radio communications, a large antenna – or an array of multiple smaller antennas – can be used. A five-antenna array is currently needed to downlink science data from the spacecraft’s Plasma Wave System (PWS) instrument. As Voyager gets further way, six antennas will be needed.

Image Credit: MDSCC/INTA, Francisco “Paco” Moreno

MDSCC/INTA, Francisco “Paco” Moreno

这张摄于2024年4月20日的图片显示了第一次：位于马德里深空通信中心NASA深空网络（DSN）的一部分的所有六个射频天线同时进行了一次测试，以接收来自该机构旅行者1号航天器的数据。

联合天线的接收能力，或阵列，让深空网络收集来自遥远航天器的非常微弱的信号。旅行者1号距离地球超过150亿英里（240亿公里），所以它在地球上发出的信号比DSN与之通信的任何航天器都要微弱得多。目前，旅行者1号的信号需要22个半小时才能从航天器传输到地球。为了更好地接收旅行者1号的无线电通信，可以使用一个大天线——或者多个小天线的阵列。目前需要一个五天线阵列来从航天器的等离子体波系统（PWS）仪器中下载科学数据。随着旅行者号飞得更远，将需要6个天线。

图片来源: MDSCC/INTA, Francisco “Paco” Moreno