National Historic Landmark

Pioneer Deep Space Station

Fort Irwin, San Bernardino County, California
Listed
October 2, 1985
Type
Structure
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
85002813

About this property

The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), commonly called the Goldstone Observatory, is a satellite ground station located in Fort Irwin in the U.S. state of California. Operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), its main purpose is to track and communicate with interplanetary space missions. It is named after Goldstone, California, a nearby gold-mining ghost town. The station is one of three satellite communication stations in the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program’s Deep Space Network (DSN), whose mission is to provide the vital two-way communications link that tracks and controls interplanetary spacecraft and receives the images and scientific information they collect. The others are the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex in Spain and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Australia. These three stations are located at separations of approximately 120° longitude so that as the Earth rotates a spacecraft will always be in sight of at least one station. The complex includes the Pioneer Deep Space Station (aka DSS 11), which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

Location

Fort Irwin, San Bernardino County, California
35.38949, -116.84947

Categories

OTHERENGINEERINGCOMMUNICATIONS
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Harmony Borax Works
Listed
7 mi
Harvey House Railroad Depot
Industrial
34.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Pioneer Deep Space Station listed on the National Register?

Pioneer Deep Space Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 2, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Pioneer Deep Space Station?

Pioneer Deep Space Station is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Pioneer Deep Space Station a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Pioneer Deep Space Station has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Pioneer Deep Space Station?

The period of significance for Pioneer Deep Space Station is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Pioneer Deep Space Station?

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