Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network
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The Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN) was established by NASA to satisfy the requirement for long-duration, highly-available space-to-ground communications.
Consisting of parabolic dish antennas and telephone switching equipment deployed around the world, the STADAN provided space-to-ground communications for approximately 15 minutes of a 90-minute orbit period. This limited contact period sufficed for unmanned spacecraft, but manned spacecraft require a much higher data collection time.
Stations
STADAN stations were at:- Greenbelt, Maryland, USA - Network Test and Training Facility
- Orroral Valley, Canberra, Australia
- Cooby Creek, Toowoomba, Australia
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Tananarive, Madagascar
- East Grand Forkes, Minissotta
- St Johns, Newfoundland, Canada
- Fort Myers, Florida
- Quito, Ecuador
- Lima, Peru
- Santiago, Chile
- Antafagasta, Chile
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Winklefield, England
- Rosman, North Carolina
- Barstow, California
- Brown Field near Chula Vista, California
- Pakistan
- Crete, Greece
Later Developments
The follow-on network, called the Manned Space flight Network (MSFN), interacted with manned craft in Earth orbit. Another network, the Deep Space Network (DSN), interacted with manned craft higher than 10,000 miles from Earth, such as the Apollo missions, in addition to its primary mission of data collection from deep space probes.External Links
- [Network stations list]
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