DSN Woes

Key antenna failure threatens Deep Space Network

“NASA uses antennas at three sites around the world – in Spain, California and Australia to be able to point at any given direction in space at any time. This Deep Space Network (DSN) is essential for receiving data sent back by all US interplanetary craft, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn. Now some of that data could be lost because a 70-metre dish near Madrid will be unavailable for the rest of the year following damage to two of the four huge bearings that carry the antennas weight as it turns.”