[X] My Assistant

[ElkGroveDan]

This was brought up in the MER forums but I figured it might be useful here where discussion of strategy and planning for missions goes on.

Having visited a DSN station this year I have a new found interest in the amazing mission these sites are tasked with. Unfortunately like everything in these belt-tightening days the DSN is underfunded for what it is they need to accomplish. That said a friend pointed out to me that there is a simple formula to calculate the DSN costs for a mission:

Missions calculate DSN costs using this formula: AF = RB [AW (0.9 + FC / 10)]

Where:
AF = weighted Aperture Fee per hour of use.
RB = contact dependent hourly rate, adjusted annually ($1057/hr. for FY09).
AW = aperture weighting:
= 0.80 for 34m High-Speed Beam Waveguide (HSB) stations.
= 1.00 for all other 34m stations (i.e., 34m BWG and 34m HEF).
= 4.00 for 70m stations.
FC = number of station contacts, (contacts per calendar week).

Online tools available:
DSN Aperture Fee Tool - Excel file 706k
DSN Services Catalogue - PDF 675k

The DSN is so critical to nearly everything we discuss here. Everyone should take the time to learn more about it, and if possible try to schedule a visit or tour. The people who work there are the unsung heroes of the headline grabbing feats that NASA and JPL accomplish.
http://deepspace.jpl.nasa.gov/

[dvandorn]

You typed your breakdown while I was typing my response, there, Doug. Those are much lower figures than I've seen on some other fora for DSN costs, and also your mentioning of ability to communicate with multiple spacecraft at one time through one dish is something that wasn't in the literature last time I looked through it (about 6 months ago).

And please, stop harping on the term "attack." It means, in this context, to aggressively seek resolution to what appears to be a valid concern. As I've explained, that's certainly how I meant it; I'd appreciate it if you can accept that.

-the other Doug