CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, will support NASA's Artemis II mission to the Moon using its specialist spacecraft communication and tracking expertise.
NASA's Artemis program aims to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, technology advancement, and to learn how to live and work on another world in preparation for crewed missions to Mars.
Artemis II is the first crewed test flight in the Artemis program. Four astronauts will fly aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft for the approximately 10-day mission to orbit the Moon and confirm the spacecraft's systems operate as designed.
NASA's Deep Space Network, managed by the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, is responsible for communication with the Orion spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit. The network's three facilities – Goldstone in California, near Madrid in Spain, and near Canberra in Australia – will maintain communication with the spacecraft.
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is managed for NASA by CSIRO.
CSIRO Director of Space & Astronomy, Dr Douglas Bock said CSIRO was proud to be supporting NASA's next stage in the return to the Moon.
"Australia was there for the first Moon landing and CSIRO is excited to be here for these next important steps toward the long-term return to the Moon and future missions to Mars.
"CSIRO's long-standing relationship with NASA stretches back more than 60 years, creating innovative solutions fuelled by our shared ambition to push the boundaries of space exploration and discovery to benefit life back on Earth.
"Our expert team at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex will help NASA stay connected with the astronauts on their journey to the Moon and back," said Dr Bock.
For Artemis II, NASA has announced additional communication and tracking support. CSIRO is contributing to these additional efforts via its teams operating:
- Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, as part of Intuitive Machines ' ground station network.
- CSIRO's Mobile Mission Operations Centre supporting ANU's laser communications demonstration .
CSIRO has a long history supporting spacecraft tracking and communications:
- CSIRO manages deep space tracking stations in Australia for NASA and the European Space Agency: NASA's Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, and ESA's New Norcia station in Western Australia.
- Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope also provides ground station support for commercial lunar landings. For example, Murriyang played a critical role downlinking data from Intuitive Machines' first lunar lander during a period of reduced signal strength.
- Since the early 1960s, Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, has supported space missions: from the Mariner 2 mission to Venus, and to more recent missions including Voyager II crossing into interstellar space.
- In July 1969, NASA tracking stations in Canberra and Western Australia, along with the support of Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, returned data, voice communications and the historic TV images of Neil Armstrong's first steps on the Moon.
