Former Ismaili National Council President for USA and NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) Project Manager Alaudin Bhanji (Al Bhanji as he is popularly referred to as) talks about the accomplishments of DSN as it turned 50 years on Christmas Eve.
DSN has been so critical to so many missions over the decades that the phrase “Don’t leave Earth without us” has become a common phrase shared within NASA. Today DSN communicates with over 30 spacecrafts.
“Today, the DSN supports a fleet of more than 30 U.S. and international robotic space missions,” said DSN Project Manager Al Bhanji of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., which manages the Deep Space Network. “Without the DSN, we would never have been able to undertake voyages to Mercury and Venus, visit asteroids and comets, we’d never have seen the stunning images of robots on Mars, or close-up views of the majestic rings of Saturn.”
“In 2063, when we celebrate the Deep Space Network’s 100th anniversary, we can imagine that we might be recalling the amazing days when our antennas streamed high-res video as the first humans stepped onto the surface of Mars,” said Al Bhanji. “Or that day when we discovered a new living ‘Earth’ orbiting a distant star.”
| Learn more by reading: 1. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-370 |
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| 2. http://www.technobuffalo.com/2013/12/24/nasas-deep-space-network-celebrates-50th-anniversary/ |  |
| Learn more by watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGgzq8eXZOQ Al(audin) Bhanji appears at 37s, 2:09 min 2:31 min … |
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DSN Background (adopted from NASA):
NASA’s Deep Space Network (DSN) turned the big 50 on Monday, December 24, 2013. The network has been vital to nearly every mission that has gone to the moon and beyond. It’s the way that astronauts communicate back to Earth and is responsible as well for data transmission. It began as the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility on December24, 1963, but has since expanded into the Deep Space Network. Historic statements transmitted through the network include “that’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” Deep Space Network has been so important to missions over the years that they coined the phrase “don’t leave Earth without us.”
| Learn even more about DSN by visiting http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/dsn50/ |
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| Learn even more about DSN Open Air Museum by visting http://30daysoftravel.com |
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Earlier: https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2010/03/26/alaudin-bhanji-deep-space-network-project-manager/
Related:
Qayl Maherali
- https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/astronauts-visit-kids-space-dreams-boost-qayl-maherali-shakes-hands-with-astronaut-buzz-aldrin/
- https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/qayl-maherali-does-cnn-live-report-from-nasa-space-shuttles/
- https://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2013/06/30/photo-essay-a-9-year-old-ismaili-boys-first-steps-of-becoming-an-astronaut/
Aliya Merali
Parviz Walji
Ismailimail 