Microwave Technologies for the New Horizons Mission to Pluto

An advanced deep space microwave radio communications system has been developed for the New Horizons spacecraft that is currently headed for Pluto and beyond. The system includes two, low-power, X-band digital receivers developed to minimize power consumption. This effort was critical to the mission, as the power saved using the digital receivers was approximately equal to the power consumed by the entire instrument suite. Each receiver is accompanied by an X-band exciter and an ultrastable oscillator to form a complete transceiver, providing command, science, and telemetry links and radionavigation functions. An uplink radioscience capability is built into the receive system to collect data on Pluto's tenuous atmosphere by recording phase and amplitude measurements of the uplink signal, as opposed to traditional downlink-only or turnaround experiments. Low power, increased functionality, and flexibility were obtained by leveraging from commercial technologies and techniques. Careful examination and screening were used to mitigate concerns for radiation effects and reliability.