Communications

How does DS1's communications system work?

Is there only one stream of information coming from DS1?

No, there are actually two different transmitters. DS1 has a high gain antenna (meaning it sends a very focused beam) that will be used for essentially all communications. It also has a low gain antenna (sending a less focused stream) that broadcasts telemetry. The information from the low gain antenna will be ignored by people on Earth unless something really unusual comes up. Given that there is only one high gain antenna sending almost all the information, one interesting problem is how to allow each of the instruments and sensors time to transmit their data.


How often does DS1 communicate with a ground station?
What is telemetry?
How is data put on radio waves?
How long does it take for transmissions to get between DS1 and Earth?
How much power is available for the communications system?

How do the instruments and sensors coordinate sending signals?
How much data is DS1 able to transfer?
What are radio waves?
What kind of data is DS1 sending back?
How is extra data sent in the radio signal?

What radio frequency does DS1 use for communications?
How is data processing managed?
How much power does each part of the system use?