- Near Earth Network
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The Near Earth Network (NEN, formerly GN or Ground Network) provides orbital communications support for Near-Earth orbiting customer platforms via various NASA ground stations.
NASA's NEN consists of ground stations in:
- Merritt Island Launch Annex (MILA) and Ponce de Leon Ground Station (PDL), Florida[1]
- McMurdo, Antarctica
- Wallops Island, Virginia
Also under contract are commercial operators at Spitsbergen, Norway; Poker Flat Research Range and the Alaska Satellite Facility (ASF) in Fairbanks, Alaska; Santiago, Chile; South Point, Hawaii; North Pole, Alaska; and Dongara, Australia.
Additionally, the MILA and Wallops stations provide pre-launch, launch, and landing communications support for the Space Shuttle program. The NEN and SN combined were previously referred to as the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN).[1]
Contents
Authority and responsibility
The NEN falls under NASA's SOMD (Space Operations Mission Directorate), interoperating with the SCaN Program offices. The Goddard Space Flight Center Ground Network Project has responsibility for maintaining the NEN, as well as implementing the Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) Network.
Support for Constellation
The NEN was slated to support the Constellation Program, including the Ares launch vehicle, NISN (NASA Integrated Services Network), FDF (Flight Dynamics Facilities), KSC Launch Control Center, and the Constellation Mission Control Center (MCC). Constellation has since been canceled.
See also
- Space Network
- Deep Space Network
- Space Communications and Navigation Program
- Indian Deep Space Network
- TDRS
- Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
- Eastern Range
Footnotes
- ^ NASA, Exploration and Space Communications Projects Division; Goddard Space Flight Center (August 2007). Space Network User's Guide (SNUG), 2.4, Supporting Elements Outside the SN, (e), "Ground Network (GN)" (Rev 9 ed.). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. pp. 2.13. 450-SNUG.
References
- Constellation Architecture Requirements Document (CARD), CxP 70000, Revision C (December 25, 2008). NASA: Constellation Systems Engineering and Integration Office
- Space Network User's Guide (SNUG), 450-SNUG, Rev 9.
External links
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Main articles Notable missions
and programsJames Webb Space Telescope · Cosmic Background Explorer · Space Network · Near Earth Network · Landsat program · Getaway Special · Compton Gamma Ray Observatory · Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer · Explorer program · Hitchhiker Program · Solar and Heliospheric Observatory · Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter · Solar Dynamics Observatory · Hubble Space Telescope · Tracking and Data Relay SatellitePeople Rob Strain (Center director) · John C. Mather · James Hansen · Orlando Figueroa · Gene Carl Feldman · Robert Bindschadler · Fred Espenak · David Louis BandNASA facilities NASA Headquarters
Research and test facilities: Ames Research Center · Dryden Flight Research Center · Glenn Research Center · Goddard Institute for Space Studies · Goddard Space Flight Center · Independent Verification and Validation Facility · Jet Propulsion Laboratory · Langley Research Center · Scientific Balloon Flight Facility · Stennis Space CenterConstruction and launch facilities: Johnson Space Center · Kennedy Space Center · Marshall Space Flight Center · Michoud Assembly Facility · Wallops Flight Facility · White Sands Test FacilityCategories:
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