Post by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

From launch to splashdown, JPL is proud to have supported the agency’s historic Artemis II mission alongside colleagues across the country and around the world. Our dedicated teams have helped support astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen as they’ve Dared Mighty Things over the past 10 days. Along with our Deep Space Network (DSN) team at ground stations at Canberra, Australia; Madrid, Spain; and Goldstone, California, we’ve kept the crew connected with Earth as they travel around the Moon. A special thank you to our colleagues at NASA’s Near Space Network and the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation Program for seamless coordination and collaboration across NASA’s networks. The DSN also conducted a bi-static radar experiment, transmitting radio signals from Deep Space Station 13 in Goldstone while the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia received the reflected signals. This experimental radar helped provide precision tracking of the Orion capsule. This interagency collaboration with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory demonstrates the power of partnership in advancing deep space capabilities. While the DSN steadfastly supported Artemis II with radio frequency communications and tracking, our optical communications experts helped support the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Optical-to-Orion (O2O) project. At JPL’s Table Mountain Facility, engineers of the Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) used the uplink laser and a sensitive downlink detector to support O2O throughout the mission, exchanging gigabits of video, telemetry, and other data with the Orion spacecraft. We look forward to continued collaboration as we drive toward a sustained human presence at the Moon!