The Tracking of Pioneer IV; The Elements of a Deep Space Tracking System

THE tracking of the lunar probe Pioneer IV is described. A number of different types of facilities were used for this purpose, using equipments of varying complexity from a 3-foot diameter antenna as launch instrumentation to the 250-foot antenna at Jodrell Bank, England. The Goldstone Lake, Calif. equipment, installed and used by JPL for tracking this vehicle is described. This consists of an 85-foot diameter parabolic antenna located on a polar mount. A phase-locked receiving system was used in conjunction with this antenna. Automatic, real-time data transmission was used between the computing center and some of the receiving stations. The extension of this three station system into a comprehensive network for the tracking of probe and satellite vehicles is described. The pertinent features of the stations that would form this network will be enumerated, ated, such as the effect of location upon efficiency of coverage for various types of orbits. The design of multipurpose equipment which can be of service to a number of programs is of importance. The gathering of both position and telemetry data is assumed for these stations.