Augmenting Voyager 2 Science Data Return for Heliopause Detection with Parkes Observatory

This paper describes a fast-track, low-cost implementation effort that the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) undertook to support Voyager 2 mission. The result significantly increased science data return for Voyager 2 mission’s heliopause detection. The Parkes Observatory 64-m “Murriyang” radio telescope of the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) was used between November 2018 – February 2019 to supplement the DSN tracking of Voyager 2. One key equipment that made such a support possible was the Record & Playback Assembly (RPA). It was based on a commercial software defined radio (SDR) that can be procured at low cost and quickly assembled to exhibit new capabilities with public- domain software libraries. The RPA at Parkes captured and recorded the received signal from Voyager. It then sent the digitized samples via the public internet to another RPA at Goldstone, California to be played back into a standard DSN receiver. Bridging the ATNF and DSN equipment across two continents, the RPA enabled data received at Parkes to flow into the Voyager mission operation system as if they came from another DSN antenna. In this paper, we will discuss the design of such a system. We will also describe the system operational concept, and a tight processing timeline necessary to keep up with new data collected daily. Some data management challenges associated with realizing a timely transfer of a large data set over the internet will be discussed. Other performance metrics such as the operating link margin at Parkes antenna, the system loss, the amount of data return to Voyager 2 mission, weather statistics and its impact on data return will be presented.