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Earlier this month DSS-43, the 70-metre antenna at the Canberra Deep
Space Communication Complex, celebrated its 50 years of supporting
exploration of our Solar System and beyond.
Deep Space Station 43 was constructed between 1969 and 1972. It was
ready in time to support communications and tracking for the final
mission of NASA’s Apollo lunar program – Apollo 17. Several months
later, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam officially opened the 64-metre
antenna on 13 April 1973.
The dish was expanded to 70-metres in the 1980s, and has
continued to support hundreds of robotic missions.
This blog reviews some highlights from DSS-43's first 50 years.
With the Artemis missions returning to the Moon, DSS43 will once again
be supporting human exploration of space.
(Image credit: CDSCC/CSIRO/A. Cherney)
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