How will the Phoenix spacecraft communicate with engineers on the Earth?
Like all of NASA’s interplanetary missions, Phoenix will rely on the agency’s Deep Space Network to track and communicate with the spacecraft. The network has groups of antennas at three locations: at Goldstone in California’s Mojave Desert; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. These locations are about one-third of the way around the world from each other so that, whatever time of day it is on Earth, at least one of them will have the spacecraft in view. Each complex is equipped with one antenna 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter, at least two antennas 34 meters (112 feet) in diameter, and smaller antennas. All three complexes communicate directly with the control hub at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Phoenix will communicate directly with Earth using the X-band portion of the radio spectrum (8 to 12 gigahertz) throughout the cruise phase of the mission and for its initial communication after separating from the third stage of the launch vehicle. The cru
