The Ascent Deep Space Station 43

To mark Deep Space Station 43’s (DSS43) 43rd anniversary, we decided to make a special video of the ascent on the antenna from ground level to the very top of the antenna structure, 73.2 metres above. The actual climb took 30 minutes (with stops to catch our breath) but we’ve compressed it here to 15 minutes. Our guide and safety instructor was John Howell, Antenna Servo Electronics Technician. John has been with CDSCC for over 14 years. DSS43 is the largest steerable parabolic dish in the southern hemisphere and been the workhorse of NASA’s Deep Space Network for over 40 years. It’s very first mission was the December 1972 Apollo 17 lunar landing and then on April 13th, 1973 was “officially“ opened by then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam. Over the past 43 years, DSS43 has supported hundreds of deep space missions across the Solar System and now with robotic spacecraft heading out into interstellar space.