Colville, WA – February 8th, 2024: Colmac Coil is proud to announce a completed project for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Colmac Coil built a specialized replacement fluid cooler for the cooling system of the 70-meter (230 feet) diameter dish, officially known as Deep Space Station 14 (nicknamed Mars antenna) that’s part of the Deep Space Network (DSN), located at its Goldstone site near Barstow, California. When installed, the Colmac Coil fluid cooler will help cool a part of the largest and most sensitive scientific telecommunications system in the world.
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| Goldstone Site, Deep Space Station 14 - Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech |
The DSN is NASA’s international array of giant radio antennas that support interplanetary spacecraft communications, detect objects in space, supports interplanetary spacecraft missions, radio astronomy, radar astronomy and related observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The Deep Space Network (DSN) consists of three separate sites at Goldstone, near Barstow, California; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. Each location, equally spaced 120 degrees apart in longitude, has a set of antennas ranging from 34 meters (111 feet) to 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter. The strategic placement of the DSN network allows constant communication to distant spacecrafts. JPL is federally funded by NASA and managed by The California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
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| Goldstone Site, Deep Space Station 14 - Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech. |
The replacement fluid cooler was designed to match the exact footprint needed, the operating conditions of the Mojave Desert, and for a seamless installation on top of the pumphouse. The Fluid Cooler will cool the deionized water that circulates throughout the antenna, keeping the antenna at ideal operating conditions. This twelve-fan fluid cooler contains the largest control box ever installed on any piece of Colmac Coil equipment, allowing all the VFD controls to be mounted on the fluid cooler. Individually controlled louvers, (or louvers, controlled in pairs) were placed on both the air-entering and discharge sides of the fluid cooler. This function allows the interior of the fluid cooler to be closed off to the elements when not in use.
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| Colmac Coil Horizontal Flat Deck Fluid Cooler - air entering side |
Controls including VFD controls |
Besides the impressive antenna size and scope of the DSN, the powerful telecommunication system is vital to space exploration and spacecraft communication. The DSN also allows for science research on asteroids, interiors of planets, moons, and research missions on earth. Colmac Coil is proud to have our equipment supporting the NASA JPL Deep Space Network, furthering the frontiers of space exploration and scientific discovery.
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| Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech |
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David Carrasco, JPL (left), George Korbel, Colmac Coil (middle left), Haroutioun Matossian, JPL (middle right), Ted Van Cleave, Colmac Coil (right)
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Learn more about the Deep Space Network at https://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/
Follow the operation of the DSN at https://eyes.nasa.gov/dsn/dsn.html