Orbiter Snapshot

[VAX_to_PBX]

This thread was inspired by this article.

I've been doing some light research about radio astronomy, and was curious about the communication's NASA uses on it's distant planet orbiter's.

I know from my short time as a HAM operator that they usually don't go above VHF for space RF communication's beyond Ionsphere do to latency issues.

They probably have a Ionsphere satellite relaying the communication's, or a parabolic dish like the one in Peurto Rico recieving them.

In any case how would one go about listening in? I have some knowledge of AX.25 and packet radio if it helps.

[Gobniu]

Re: Orbiter Snapshot

Last time I had anything to do with satellites and Mars JPL was going to send a sattelite called the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO) that was going to use lasers to send data back to a sattelite in earth orbit and then relay it back to earth. But I think that MTO wasn't slated for launch until 2010.

P.S. - I worked on a project called Magnet Investigation of Mars by Interacting Consortia (MIMIC), it was supposed to be the first student designed sattelite to go to mars... however it's funding was cut when the President announced his new space initiative to send humans to mars.

[DaKahuna]

Re: Orbiter Snapshot

NASA has ground tracking stations all of the world which have large parabolic dishes that are used to communicate with space craft. I believe the communication links are encrypted but have no first hand knowlege.