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Next: 9. Mission Life Cycle Up: Project Asterius Previous: 7.8.12 Alpha Proton Xray

8. Operations and Ground Data System Design

We on Earth will use the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to communicate with Asterius. DSN was chosen because the stations are strategically placed on three continents for almost continuous communication with earth. The uplink frequency is set at one of 2.025-2.12 GHz and 7.145-7.19 GHz.

The data from DSN will be distributed to Project Asterius scientists via land lines, submarine cable, microwave links, and communication satellites.

Project Asterius plans to operate the spacecraft from a central headquarters separate from the DSN sites. The headquarters need not be elaborate. It will likely be a medium-sized space such as a floor of an office building. All of the data downlinked from Asterius is immediately archived on CD-ROM. Certain data, especially real-time data, would be processed immediately by the ground computers, and perhaps acted upon immediately by the operators. Other data would remain in archive, to be processed whenever time allows.