Radio Science Techniques for Deep Space Exploration

5 Technologies, Instrumentation, and Operations

5.1 Overview

End-to-end instrumentation for a radio science (RS) experiment comprises distant spacecraft communicating via radio links with specialized stations on Earth or, in some cases, with each other (see Figures 1.6 and 1.7 in Chapter 1). As illustrated in Figure 5.1, for most RS experiments, the science observables are acquired directly at the ground stations, unlike typical scientific payloads in which stand-alone units on board the spacecraft acquire data that are subsequently transmitted to ground stations as data packets ready to deliver to science investigations. For RS experiments, the ground station plays a critical role as the bigger part of a science instrument distributed across the Solar System.

Figure 5.1  The role of the Deep Space Network station for data communications for science instruments on board spacecraft (upper panel) and as a fundamental element of the instrument for RS experiments (lower panel).

The performance of each component of the RS end-to-end instrument affects the quality of the scientific outcome and requires proper design, development, implementation, testing, calibration, and operational planning. Furthermore, specialized techniques are used to calibrate the effects of the media in the radio link’s propagation path, namely, Earth’s neutral atmosphere, ionosphere, and the interplanetary ...