HartRAO Home > DSS51 History
The facility was actually operated by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on behalf of NASA, until its closure in 1974. It became a radio astronomy observatory, operating under first the CSIR, then the Foundation for Research Development (FRD), which became the National Research Foundation (NRF) in 1999.
The antenna was constructed in 1960-1. A photographer named Roelie van Wyk was employed to record progress, and he was caught in action above. In August 2008 Roelie visited the station and presented us with the photo shown, taken 48 years previously.
The official opening of the station in 1961 is shown above. The antenna was originally built with an aluminium mesh surface, and operated at a frequency of 960 MHz, i.e. a wavelength of about 30 cm. The lightweight mesh surface was quite transparent optically.
The original stations in the Deep Space Network are shown above - the three original 85' antennas were DSIF 11 at Goldstone, California, United States (retired 1981 to become a museum exhibit), DSIF 41 at Island Lagoon, Woomera, Australia (decomissioned and demolished in 1972) and DSIF 51 at Hartebeesthoek, near Johannesburg, South Africa (decommissioned and transformed into a radio telescope operated by the South African CSIR in 1974).
Construction - More pictures of the construction of the antenna are shown here.
Upgrades - The antenna went through a variety of upgrades
during its working life as a NASA tracking station.
Spacecraft Missions -
DSS 51 was involved in many spacecraft missions
from 1961 to 1974.
Control Room -
See inside the control room at DSS 51.
Sister Antennas - More information about the many sister antennas is found here.
The engineering and technical staff just before the closing of DSS 51 in
June 1974. George Nicolson, the future Director of DSS 51 transformed into
its next incarnation as the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory,
appears in a black blazer immediately below the north ladder of the
telescope.
Beryl and Roy Coetzee have provided this list of names of the staff in the
photograph:
Back row, left to right -
Front row, left to right :
DSS 51 - The End
Click on the image for large version
John Dinham, Obie Oberholzer, G.I. Fourie, Keith Jones, Mr Miller, Willem de
Lange, Kobie van Zyl, Les Field, Joe Pheiffer, Mike Ainley, Gunther Krantz,
George Nicolson, Bill Grieves, Harry Bryant, Peet Carstens, Jeff Glennister,
Andre de Wet, Louis Alberts, Tommy Llewellyn, Hennie Roesch, Garth
Alexander, Howard Jarman, Jannie Duvenage, Peter Jardine.
Jimmy Archbold, Gibby Gray, Hennie Pieterse, Hennie Naude, ? (store's
assistant), Tony Eyre, Gina Jacobs, Colin Kroesen, Martin van Rijswijk,
Paul Jordaan, (student), Nick van Rensburg, Pete Longmore, and three
unidentified students kneeling in front.
Information on the Deep Space Network
For more information, see: