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Site last updated on
May 20, 2009 |
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Communications, Tracking and Radar Division
provides scientific and technological leadership and expertise to NASA/JPL for deep space and planetary communications, navigational tracking, and active radio frequency (RF) remote sensing.
Closely related responsibilities include the scientific observation of Earth and space by radio or radar remote sensing, and application in Earthly communications.
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Chris Yung (333) explains the 12m Patriot antenna (a prototype element-level antenna for the DSN array). |
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Lute Maleki (332) quantum physics lab activities |
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Andre Jongeling (335) explains the 6m breadboard array operation. |
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Bob Tjoelker (335) explains the new DSN master clock and timing distribution system. |
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GRACE Flight Hardware Lead Garth Franklin during Integration and Test of the Flight GPS and K-band Ranging System onto the spacecraft in Germany in 2001. GRACE has been operating successfully in low-Earth orbit since March 2002 and has improved the Earth's gravity field knowledge more than 100-fold.
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The Autonomous Formation Flying Sensor antenna being installed at the Division 33 Antenna Mesa for outdoor testing in 2003. |
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Cassini Black Cat: During Cassini's first flyby of Titan, the imaging radar (SAR) captured a 4000 km long strip. This is a portion of the image in which the dark areas that maybe liquid hydrocarbons appear to form a fanciful "black cat". |
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This is a picture of the partially deployed SRTM Cannister, Mast and Outboard Antenna now on display in the Smithsonian following its successful mission to map the earth from the Space Shuttle Endeavor in February 2000. |
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Cloudsat polarizer wire after tensile test to rule out hydrogen embrittlement. Wire is 0.002 tungsten, gold plated. |
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Engineers gathered on the side of the Cloud Profiling Radar during an open door test of the end to end function of the instrument. |
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Engineers testing the Receiver subsystem prior to its integration into the Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) instrument to be flown in the CloudSat spacecraft.
The picture shows the bottom side of the CPR instrument with the Receiver unit placed on an elevated part of a test bench. |
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Tuan Tran is assembling the X-Band Radio Frequency Subsystems on one of the MER Rovers. |
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Scot Stride next to the MRO spacecraft during integration and test at Lockheed Martin, Boulder. |
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Engineers preparing the Cloud Profiling Radar for the Thermal Vacuum Test. The Cloud Profiling Radar instrument was mounted on the sliding door of a test chamber of 10-foot diameter. |
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Sami Asmar with Congressman John Culberson (R, TX) during the Cassini Saturn Orbit Insertion maneuver. |
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Radio Science Systems Group personnel conducting a Cassini ring occultation experiment in real-time using the DSN Radio Science Receivers. |
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The Cassini ring occultation Principal Investigator (Professor Essam Marouf) advices the Radio Science Systems Group and the DSN antenna pointing specialist during an experiment. |
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After the experiment. |
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Doug Johnston, Sami Asmar, and Kamal Oudrhiri during the Cassini Saturn Orbit Insertion maneuver. |
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Aseel Anabtawi (Radio Science Systems Group) with the IND Chief Scientist and JPL Director during the Huygens landing on Titan monitoring the Doppler Wind Experiment. |
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The Division performs scientific investigations, advanced technology research, engineering developments, and system implementations encompassing
space telecommunications, tracking, and active remote sensing using electromagnetic waves. The Division develops and operates systems to provide high data capacity coupled with precision tracking at low cost with operational reliability and autonomy to support diverse mission needs for: point-to-point operation; planetary relays; in-situ and proximity communication for entry, decent and landing (EDL); surface operations; high capacity backbone links; and for inter-spacecraft tracking and communication in distributed systems and multiple space vehicle formations. Systems used for communications and tracking are utilized for scientific benefit in fields as diverse as radio astronomy, planetary science, geophysics, and quantum physics. Active remote sensing, utilizing many disciplines common to communication and tracking, supports NASA Earth and solar system exploration strategic science goals and include altimeters, scatterometers, real and synthetic aperture radars, and precise spacecraft-to-spacecraft measurement systems.
- System engineering and implementations for advanced communications, tracking, and remote sensing instruments for ground and space networks and systems
- Electromagnetic theory and techniques
- Next generation communications architectures and technologies for future deep space and planetary proximity systems, including modulation systems, source and channel coding algorithms and protocols, quantum and optical communication technologies, signal and data processing techniques, and communications/information theory
- Precision tracking and position sensing techniques, technologies, operational systems and data processors that including frequency and timing, the Global Positioning System (GPS), Very Long Baseline Interferometry, and signal processing/correlation
- Flight and ground communication systems for JPL missions, including antennas, arrays, transponders, proximity radios, signal processors, and RF amplifiers
- Active RF remote sensing instruments, radars and associated ground data processing algorithms and data processing systems
- Spectrum engineering and RF interference analyses
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