Russian DSN?

[BrianJ]

Hi,
just wondering if anyone can tell me if Russia has their own tracking/communications stations for communicating with interplanetary spacecraft? Is there a Russian equivalent of the DSN? What would they use for communicating with a spacecraft at, say, Mars?

Subsidiary question: Spacecraft HGA pointing accuracy?
Also, what what would be the required pointing accuracy for a 1m diameter HGA on a spacecraft at Mars?
i.e. What would be the maximum angle error before you lose signal?
(of course it would depend on antenna design, signal strength, etc. but I'm just looking for a rough estimate: 0.1deg? 10deg? 30deg?)

many thanks,
Brian

 

[Urwumpe]

Hi,
just wondering if anyone can tell me if Russia has their own tracking/communications stations for communicating with interplanetary spacecraft? Is there a Russian equivalent of the DSN? What would they use for communicating with a spacecraft at, say, Mars?

Yes, there are many specialized tracking stations all over Russia, but the most critical one is close to Moscow.

Subsidiary question: Spacecraft HGA pointing accuracy?
Also, what what would be the required pointing accuracy for a 1m diameter HGA on a spacecraft at Mars?
i.e. What would be the maximum angle error before you lose signal?
(of course it would depend on antenna design, signal strength, etc. but I'm just looking for a rough estimate: 0.1deg? 10deg? 30deg?)

This depends less on the DSN, as on the radio signals and antenna characteristics on the spacecraft. The -3 dB beam cone is pretty important, it is the border at which the signal strength dropped by 50%.

 

[SiberianTiger]

I believe this is a useful reading for you:
http://www.mentallandscape.com/V_Telemetry.htm

 

[BrianJ]

Thanks very much, guys!
(great link Sib.Tig! Just what I need)

cheers,
Brian

 

[SiberianTiger]

You are welcome. However, Don P. Mitchell ends his article with "to be continued..." I guess he wanted to cover the more recently built deep space tracking/communications centres in Medvezhye Ozyora and Kalyazin (the former is possibly what Urwumpe meant), and something else, perhaps. They are also used as radio observatories.

 

[Urwumpe]

You are welcome. However, Don P. Mitchell ends his article with "to be continued..." I guess he wanted to cover the more recently built deep space tracking/communications centres in Medvezhye Ozyora and Kalyazin (the former is possibly what Urwumpe meant), and something else, perhaps. They are also used as radio observatories.

Not just Kalyazin, (which looks like the one in the James Bond movie Golden Eye, BTW), but also the local near-earth station. Can't remember the name, but it wasn't Kalyazin. The "new" mission control center near moscow is directly on the same site.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Not just Kalyazin, (which looks like the one in the James Bond movie Golden Eye, BTW), but also the local near-earth station. Can't remember the name, but it wasn't Kalyazin. The "new" mission control center near moscow is directly on the same site.

Do you mean this one? This location is called Medvezhye Ozyora.

 

[Urwumpe]

Do you mean this one? This location is called Medvezhye Ozyora.

No, I rather mean one around Korolyov...looked for it in satellite images, but didn't find it yet, I only remember it being mentioned in a book about Soyuz and Mir.