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The RadioAstron Green Bank Earth Station

2014; SPIE; Volume: 9145; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1117/12.2056761

1996-756X

H. Alyson Ford, Robert E. Anderson, K. G. Belousov, Joseph J. Brandt, John Ford, B. Z. Kanevsky, A. V. Kovalenko, Y. Y. Kovalev, R. J. Maddalena, Sergeĭ Sergeev, Alexander Smirnov, Galen Watts, Timothy L. Weadon,

Computational Physics and Python Applications

We present the design, commissioning, and initial results of the Green Bank Earth Station (GBES), a RadioAstron data downlink station located at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. The GBES uses the modernized and refurbished NRAO 140ft telescope. Antenna optics were refurbished with new motors and drives fitted to the secondary mirror positioning system, and the deformable subreflector was refurbished with a new digital controller and new actuators. A new monitor and control system was developed for the 140ft and is based on that of the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), allowing satellite tracking via a simple scheduling block. Tools were developed to automate antenna pointing during tracking. Data from the antenna control systems and logs are retained and delivered with the science and telemetry data for processing at the Astro Space Center (ASC) of the Lebedev Physical Institute (LPI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the mission control centre, Lavochkin Association.