July 13, 1998
Providing global, full-time and real-time communications support for NASA's Space Network customers, including the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope, the new ground terminal will be capable of communicating with geosynchronous tracking and data relay satellites stationed out of view of the existing Cacique and Danzante ground stations in White Sands, NM. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, manages the overall system.
"NASA built the Guam ground station to significantly expand the quantity and quality of services we provide to all our customers," said Goddard's ground terminal project manager, Tom Gitlin. Cost of funding the Guam station will be provided by NASA's Space Network operations budget and mitigated in part by the deactivation of the Canberra station.
The Guam Remote Ground Terminal was conceived after NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory suffered an onboard tape recorder failure in March 1992, and required full-time, real-time communications support. NASA established a limited capability ground terminal in Canberra, Australia, in late 1993 to provide continued support for the observatory's science mission. Goddard project officials quickly realized that an enhanced ground station was needed in the Pacific to better serve NASA's Space Network customers who traverse the Indian Ocean area.
For more information, refer to NASA's Network Control Center on the Internet.
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