Workers at the Deep Space Network complex in Goldstone, California, prepared to replace a set of elevation bearings on the giant "Mars antenna" on March 11, 2010. The work on the elevation bearings, which enable the antenna to tip up from the horizon and back down again, was part of a major refurbishment of the Mars antenna that lasted from March to October 2010.
The 70-meter-wide (230-foot-wide) Mars antenna got its nickname from its first task: tracking the Mariner 4 spacecraft after its historic flyby of Mars in 1966. The antenna's official name is Deep Space Station 14.
Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Notes: The Minister blogged about Deep Space Station 14 earlier; see here for a photo of the whole antenna. What the above article doesn't say is that the renovation works finished in October and the antenna is working once more; see NASA's 'Mars Antenna' Back in Operation.
For more photos and information about the renovation work, see:
PIA13429: Removing Pads from Antenna
PIA13430: Checking on the Jacks
PIA13557: Jacking up the Antenna
PIA13558: Stringer Box Going In
PIA13559: Prepping a Support Leg
PIA13560: Mars Antenna Gets Legs
PIA13562: Old Elevation Bearings
PIA13563: A Heavy-Duty Jack for a Giant Task
PIA13564: Out with the Old Grout
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