What’s the GAVRT?

The technical details about the GAVRT telescope will be presented in the GAVRT system course in the planned training sequence. However, here’s a thumbnail sketch.

GAVRT is a Cassegrain radio telescope located at Goldstone, California, with an aperture of 34 meters and an hour-angle/declination mounting and tracking system. It has S-band and X-band solid-state, low-noise amplifiers and receivers. Previously part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s ) Deep Space Network (DSN), and known as Deep Space Station (DSS)-12, or “Echo,” it was originally built as a 26-meter antenna in 1960 to serve with NASA’s Echo project, an experiment that transmitted voice communications coast-to-coast by bouncing the signals off the surface of a passive balloon-type satellite. In 1979, its aperture was enlarged to 34 meters, and the height of its mounting was increased to accommodate the larger aperture. It has since provided crucial support to many deep-space missions, including Voyager in the outer solar system, Magellan at Venus, and others. In 1996, after retiring DSS-12 from the DSN, NASA turned it over to AVSTC (associated with the Apple Valley, California, School District) to operate as a radio telescope. AVSTC plans to make the telescope available over the internet to classrooms across the country for radio astronomy student observations. NASA still retains ownership, however, and responsibility for maintenance.