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NASA\u2019s LEGS can do more than help Earthlings move about the planet.<\/p>\n
Three Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, or LEGS, will enhance the Near Space Network\u2019s communications services and support of NASA\u2019s Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program maintains the agency\u2019s two primary communications networks \u2014 the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network, which enable satellites in space to send data back to Earth for investigation and discovery.<\/p>\n
Using antennas around the globe, these networks capture signals from satellites, collecting data and enabling navigation engineers to track the mission. For the first Artemis mission, these networks worked in tandem to support the mission as it completed its 25-day journey around the Moon. They will do the same for the upcoming Artemis II mission.<\/p>\n
To support NASA\u2019s Moon to Mars initiative, NASA is adding three new LEGS antennas to the Near Space Network. As NASA works toward sustaining a human presence on the Moon, communications and navigation support will be crucial to each mission\u2019s success. The LEGS antennas will directly support the later Artemis missions, and accompanying missions like the human landing system, lunar terrain vehicle, and Gateway.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the main goals of LEGS is to offload the Deep Space Network,\u201d said TJ Crooks, LEGS project manager at NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. \u201cThe Near Space Network and its new LEGS antennas will focus on lunar missions while allowing the Deep Space Network to support missions farther out into the solar system \u2014 like the James Webb Space Telescope and the interstellar Voyager missions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Near Space Network provides communications and navigation services to missions anywhere from near Earth to 1.2 million miles away \u2014 this includes the Moon and Sun-Earth Lagrange points 1 and 2. The Moon and Lagrange points are a shared region with the Deep Space Network, which can provide services to missions there and farther out in the solar system.<\/p>\n
The LEGS antennas, which are 66 feet in diameter, will be strategically placed across the globe. This global placement ensures that when the Moon is setting at one station, it is rising into another\u2019s view. With the Moon constantly in sight, the Near Space Network will be able to provide continuous support for lunar operations.<\/p>\n
As a satellite orbits the Moon, it encodes its data onto a radio frequency signal. When a LEGS antenna comes into view, that satellite (or rover, etc.) will downlink the signal to a LEGS antenna. This data is then routed to mission operators and scientists around the globe who can make decisions about spacecraft health and orbit or use the science data to make discoveries.<\/p>\n
The LEGS antennas are intended to be extremely flexible for users. For LEGS-1, LEGS-2, and LEGS-3, NASA is implementing a \u201cdual-band approach\u201d for the antennas that will allow missions to communicate using two different radio frequency bands \u2014 X-band and Ka-band. Typically, smaller data packets \u2014 like telemetry data \u2014 are sent over X-band, while high-resolution science data or imagery needs Ka-band. Due to its higher frequency, Ka-band allows significantly more information to be downlinked at once, such as real-time high-resolution video in support of crewed operations.<\/p>\n
Further LEGS capacity will be sought from commercial service providers and will include a \u201ctri-band approach\u201d for the antennas using S-band in addition to X- and Ka-band.<\/p>\n
The first LEGS ground station, or LEGS-1, is at NASA\u2019s White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico. NASA is improving land and facilities at the complex to receive the new LEGS-1 antenna.<\/p>\n
The LEGS-2 antenna will be in Matjiesfontein, South Africa, located near Cape Town. In partnership with SANSA, the South African National Space Agency, NASA chose this location to maximize coverage to the Moon. South Africa was home to a ground tracking station outside Johannesburg that played a role in NASA\u2019s Apollo missions to the Moon in the 1960s. The agency plans to complete the LEGS-2 antenna in 2026. For LEGS-3, NASA is exploring locations in Western Australia.<\/p>\n
These stations will fully complement the existing capabilities of the Near and Deep Space Networks and allow for more robust communications services to the Artemis campaign.<\/p>\n
The Near Space Network is funded by NASA\u2019s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office at NASA Headquarters in Washington and operated out of NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n