Oct 28 1981
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it would shut down on December 1 its three 26-meter (85-foot) tracking antennas operated by the Deep Space Network at Canberra (Australia), Madrid (Spain), and Goldstone (California), because of reductions in the agency's budget. The stations would operate the 64-meter (210-foot) and 34-meter (112-foot) deep-space antennas as in the past. Loss of the 26-meter antennas would mean a 30% reduction in tracking and data-acquisition and support for NASA's planetary spacecraft: the network was currently supporting Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, Helios 1, the Viking 1 lander on Mars, and Pioneers 6 through 12.
Shutting down the three antennas would save about $7.2 million per year, beginning in FY83; termination would eliminate 110 positions, 51 in Spain, 26 in Australia, and 33 at Goldstone. The stations in Spain and Australia were operated by government agencies of those countries, which would reduce staff by reassignment and attrition; the Goldstone station was operated by Bendix Field Engineering Corporation, which would also reduce staff by reassignment and attrition. JPL managed the Deep Space Network for NASA's Office of Space Tracking and Data Systems. (NASA Release 81-171)
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