Scientists set up a 'phone line' between Earth and spacecraft in cosmos
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Scientists set up a 'phone line' between Earth and spacecraft in cosmos")
Representative image of spacecraft in space. Photograph: (Unsplash)
New Norcia 3, an antenna installed in Perth by the European Space Agency, will prove fruitful in keeping the spacecraft in space connected with Earth. It will ensure data is received quickly and that the channel of communication never breaks.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has inaugurated a massive new deep space antenna called New Norcia 3, built to communicate with spacecraft travelling in deep space. It is a collaboration between Europe and Australia, and the 115-foot deep-space antenna is located in Western Australia's outback. It is part of Estrack, Europe’s tracking station network for spacecraft links and other missions out in the solar system. ESA’s ground stations are the critical link between Earth and space and ensure mission teams stay connected to their spacecraft. This is important in order to coordinate flight plans, download scientific data, and keep the crew or equipment safe. These stations also help download data much faster from spacecraft to keep space free. Modern spacecraft are equipped with high-quality cameras, spectrometers, and particle sensors that create huge files.
Located near Perth, New Norcia 3 joins two other stations in Spain and Argentina. In tandem, these three locations allow Earth to stay in regular contact with spacecraft in the universe, out on probes as the planet rotates. This is important because in deep space, radio signals are extremely weak at ground receivers. The farther the object, the more the waves spread out. The receiver catches less energy, so thermal motion in electronics might not be able to capture all the details. This problem can be fixed by having large reflectors and quiet receivers because bigger surfaces collect more signal. Picking up faint signals becomes possible because of the components that are cooled to -263°C (-441°F)—nearly absolute zero—to eliminate electronic "noise."
The probes and spacecraft New Norcia 3 will support
Key missions that the antenna in Perth will support include the Juice mission, currently exploring the icy moons of Jupiter; the Solar Orbiter, which is studying the Sun from a close distance; BepiColombo, a probe studying Mercury; Vigil, a mission designed to warn Earth of dangerous solar storms, and the Euclid space mission which is investigating how dark matter and dark energy have shaped the universe. As humanity pushes the boundaries of space and tries to go deeper, the €62 million antenna has its job cut out. It will ensure that as more spacecraft leave Earth, we have a reliable "phone line" to bring back the photos and data that change our understanding of the universe.
