After a last-year accident knocked a key 70-meter antenna out of NASA’s Deep Space Network at Goldstone, officials say the network still “worked well” for Artemis II—while repairs and upgrades are expected to keep that antenna offline through 2028.
For a program built on precision, the Deep Space Network’s reliability is more than a technical milestone—it’s the difference between a spacecraft being heard clearly and being left to drift in silence.
NASA’s Deep Space Network “worked well” on Artemis II, according to DSN official Heckler. He said that once new mission commitments are in place, NASA will be “more focused” and “more process-oriented in being able to commit to new missions or not.”
That confidence lands with weight because the network has not been without its scare. One constraint on the DSN came from an accident last year that knocked one of the network’s three 70-meter (230-foot) antennas offline at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow. California. The 70-meter dish—along with similar antennas in Spain and Australia—handles communications for some of NASA’s most distant missions.
In September last year. the 70-meter dish was tracking NASA’s Juno spacecraft at Jupiter when it “over-rotated.” Investigators say the over-rotation damaged cables and water lines tied to the facility’s fire suppression system. An estimated 200,000 gallons of water flooded the base of the antenna. Because the water contained glycol, officials classified it as an environmental hazard. The flooding rendered the antenna inoperable.
The report didn’t stop at what happened—it laid out why it was allowed to happen. Investigators cited technical and process causes after troubleshooting a problem with the antenna’s emergency stops. At Goldstone. technicians “overrode and bypassed multiple safeguards that normally would have prevented over-rotation.” The same investigation described a chain of failures in training and documentation. pointing to “inadequate training. insufficient written procedures. a reliance on undocumented behaviors and tacit knowledge. and deficiencies in the antenna’s control logic.”.
The “final fail safe against over-rotation,” the hydraulic limit system, was also found to be severely damaged—yet inoperable—after what the report described as an unknown and undocumented prior incident. Work logs showed the hydraulic limit system was last tested in 2004.
The practical consequences of that failure are still playing out in the schedule. NASA officials estimate it will cost between $4.1 million and $4.6 million to repair and restore the antenna to service. Heckler described the plan as tying remediation after the mishap to an already planned upgrade cycle. keeping that system down into 2028.
The story of Artemis II and the Goldstone accident fit together in a hard, human way: the DSN can deliver when it needs to—but the margin for error depends on safeguards, training, and equipment that has to be trusted before the next mission is ready to launch.
NASA Deep Space Network DSN Artemis II Goldstone Barstow 70-meter antenna Juno over-rotation hydraulic limit system glycol fire suppression repairs upgrades 2028
So like… they fixed it or they’re just hoping it won’t break again?
Wait the antenna was tracking Juno and it over-rotated?? That’s crazy. Then they flooded the base with like 200,000 gallons and now they want it offline til 2028? NASA be out here with duct tape timelines.
I don’t get it, if it “worked well” then why is the one antenna supposed to stay offline through 2028? Maybe they just used the Spain/Australia ones instead? Or maybe “worked well” means barely like it ghosted the signal until someone rebooted something lol.
This sounds like the kind of failure that happens because training and paperwork weren’t right. But also, 70 meters is huge, so how did they even bypass safeguards?? That fire suppression water with glycol being an environmental hazard just makes it worse. I’m gonna be real, space stuff already feels like it’s held together by process and prayers.