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Is statistics available about time consumed by different spacecraft for communication wint NASA Deep Space Network (DSN)?

It would be interesting to compare which space missions are more downlink-time hungry. Also the cost of DSN communications is approximately proportional to the time consumed.

Where this info can be found?

I'd like to see an answer in form like:

"spacecraft 1 - X1 hours in year 2017"
"spacecraft 2 - X2 hours in year 2017"

or/and

"spacecraft 1 - Y1 hours during all the mission's lifetime"
"spacecraft 2 - Y2 hours during all the mission's lifetime"

EDIT:

Maybe this answer deals with the problem, but I'm not sure.

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3
  • $\begingroup$ A mission to the outer planets will have a phase with low downlink time while in hibernation and a downlink hungry period when images are transfered to Earth. So only finished missions may be compared. $\endgroup$
    – Uwe
    Commented Jul 13, 2018 at 15:32
  • $\begingroup$ @Uwe - I'm agree, but year-based statistics would be interesting too for the dynamics of DSN occupation, $\endgroup$
    – Heopps
    Commented Jul 13, 2018 at 15:47
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I have submitted a FOIA request for this question $\endgroup$
    – Mark Omo
    Commented Aug 24, 2018 at 18:26

1 Answer 1

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I submitted a FOIA request for every contact made by the DSN from 2010 onward (I received contacts from Jan 1, 2010, till Sep 1, 2018)

Here is a summary of the contact time for all 86 Missions contacted by the DSS in that time sorted by total time (in hours).

+------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------------+
|                       Mission                        |  2010   |  2011   |  2012   |  2013   |  2014   |  2015   |  2016   |  2017   |  2018   | Grand Total |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------------+
| Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 05                       | 10428.6 |  8941.0 |  8740.9 |  9326.6 | 10160.2 | 10085.1 |  9238.2 | 10281.4 |  6468.6 |     83670.7 |
| 2001 Mars Odyssey                                    | 10677.4 |  8850.7 |  8785.9 |  9297.9 |  9588.2 |  8517.0 |  8105.7 |  9914.2 |  6082.8 |     79819.8 |
| Voyager 1                                            |  6207.7 |  4848.4 |  3608.7 |  6554.1 |  4062.1 |  5056.4 |  3900.8 |  6184.7 |  1735.9 |     42158.7 |
| ISTP SOHO Mission                                    |  6300.8 |  4925.0 |  4498.5 |  4656.9 |  4452.3 |  3853.8 |  4857.5 |  4442.1 |  3066.2 |     41053.2 |
| Dawn Mission                                         |   909.1 |  4555.4 |  5415.4 |   885.8 |   918.4 |  5075.6 |  7755.7 |  2152.3 |  2670.3 |     30338.0 |
| Voyager 2                                            |  3573.1 |  2741.6 |  2349.5 |  3248.9 |  3072.8 |  3510.1 |  3429.3 |  5616.6 |  2143.1 |     29684.9 |
| Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution               |       - |       - |       - |   891.2 |  4449.7 |  4866.6 |  5167.5 |  7405.4 |  4905.3 |     27685.8 |
| STEREO Ahead                                         |  3267.2 |  3350.4 |  3199.6 |  2624.4 |  2654.8 |  2126.8 |  3198.7 |  2638.6 |  2255.5 |     25316.0 |
| Cassini                                              |  3537.0 |  2842.7 |  2988.2 |  3238.4 |  2744.3 |  2933.7 |  3134.9 |  2753.1 |       - |     24172.3 |
| Juno                                                 |       - |  2399.2 |  2190.0 |  3361.7 |  1599.7 |  1707.9 |  5033.5 |  4358.8 |  2535.2 |     23186.0 |
| Chandra                                              |  2538.1 |  2578.9 |  2483.2 |  2492.7 |  2466.6 |  2472.0 |  2514.7 |  2448.5 |  1522.0 |     21516.7 |
| MESSENGER                                            |  1441.8 |  5107.7 |  4372.5 |  4047.1 |  4124.4 |  1252.8 |       - |       - |       - |     20346.3 |
| New Horizons Pluto & Charon                          |  1309.8 |  1196.1 |  1189.6 |  1664.5 |  1512.3 |  5311.8 |  4532.9 |  1983.6 |   999.7 |     19700.4 |
| ISTP GEOTAIL Mission                                 |  2136.2 |  2126.3 |  2129.6 |  2051.5 |  1986.7 |  1983.2 |  2011.2 |  2002.8 |  1325.8 |     17753.3 |
| STEREO Behind                                        |  3207.1 |  3649.4 |  2872.7 |  2949.9 |  2762.9 |   191.8 |   521.7 |   576.7 |   281.9 |     17014.2 |
| Advanced Composition Explorer                        |  1985.3 |  1973.4 |  1880.0 |  1862.8 |  1784.7 |  1738.0 |  1888.4 |  1882.9 |  1308.5 |     16304.0 |
| Mars Express                                         |  1657.6 |  1940.2 |   983.7 |  1890.9 |  1572.0 |  1777.6 |  1731.0 |  2254.8 |   611.8 |     14419.6 |
| ISTP WIND Mission                                    |  1409.8 |  1587.9 |  1641.8 |  1590.8 |  1499.3 |  1455.0 |  1555.8 |  1540.7 |  1093.1 |     13374.3 |
| Mars Science Laboratory                              |       - |  1065.7 |  4290.8 |  1506.9 |  1324.1 |  1258.0 |  1241.8 |  1430.6 |   735.6 |     12853.4 |
| Kepler                                               |  1541.3 |  1265.3 |  1309.5 |  1398.2 |  1301.6 |  1145.6 |  1763.7 |  1524.8 |  1162.4 |     12412.4 |
| Spitzer (SIRTF)                                      |  1942.6 |  1269.0 |  2080.0 |  2235.0 |  1095.7 |  1094.5 |   953.0 |   899.3 |   586.6 |     12155.8 |
| Mars Orbiter Mission                                 |       - |       - |       - |   790.4 |  3504.2 |  2440.4 |  1614.6 |  1306.3 |   217.8 |      9873.8 |
| Rosetta                                              |   564.3 |   377.5 |       - |       - |  2264.8 |  3061.1 |  2495.5 |       - |       - |      8763.3 |
| Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory A           |       - |  1933.8 |  6722.0 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      8655.8 |
| Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory B           |       - |  2001.5 |  6561.4 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      8562.9 |
| THEMIS B                                             |  1129.3 |  1126.5 |   722.3 |   794.5 |   791.1 |   812.2 |   730.1 |   714.9 |   415.6 |      7236.3 |
| THEMIS C                                             |  1039.4 |  1097.2 |   709.9 |   784.7 |   742.6 |   833.1 |   779.7 |   695.7 |   444.0 |      7126.3 |
| OSIRIS-REx                                           |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1716.5 |  3307.8 |  1629.8 |      6654.1 |
| Deep Impact                                          |  2936.8 |   938.4 |   989.4 |   574.9 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      5439.6 |
| Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter                         |   128.7 |   154.1 |    39.8 |    48.7 |   623.0 |   963.6 |   968.6 |  1223.1 |   821.2 |      4970.7 |
| CLUSTER-4                                            |   843.8 |   982.1 |  1017.6 |   921.3 |   740.5 |    50.5 |       - |       - |       - |      4555.8 |
| Mars Exploration Rover #1 Flight                     |   595.4 |   562.7 |   603.7 |   459.1 |   488.7 |   487.3 |   467.8 |   592.7 |   268.7 |      4526.1 |
| Planet-C                                             |  1611.2 |   157.8 |       - |       - |       - |  2255.1 |   448.0 |       - |    45.5 |      4517.7 |
| Magnetospheric MultiScale spacecraft 1               |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1084.2 |  1030.5 |  1146.2 |   797.7 |      4058.5 |
| Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE)   |       - |       - |       - |  2188.1 |  1860.4 |       - |       - |       - |       - |      4048.5 |
| Magnetospheric MultiScale spacecraft 4               |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1002.2 |   889.1 |  1000.2 |   704.1 |      3595.5 |
| STARDUST                                             |  1995.9 |  1533.2 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      3529.1 |
| CLUSTER-1                                            |   675.8 |   776.8 |   644.3 |   642.0 |   684.2 |    99.9 |       - |       - |       - |      3523.1 |
| Magnetospheric MultiScale spacecraft 3               |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1019.3 |   848.3 |   973.5 |   669.1 |      3510.1 |
| Magnetospheric MultiScale spacecraft 2               |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1001.6 |   859.8 |   945.7 |   668.9 |      3476.0 |
| CLUSTER-2                                            |   583.8 |   685.5 |   459.1 |   422.4 |   439.0 |    43.3 |       - |       - |       - |      2633.1 |
| Integral                                             |  2317.6 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      2317.6 |
| CLUSTER-3                                            |   247.1 |   449.9 |   583.4 |   506.1 |   207.3 |    32.8 |       - |       - |       - |      2026.5 |
| Hayabusa-2                                           |       - |       - |       - |       - |   284.1 |   321.8 |   366.2 |    38.3 |   636.5 |      1646.9 |
| InSight                                              |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    68.6 |       - |    48.5 |  1515.2 |      1632.3 |
| Mars Cube One A                                      |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1497.5 |      1497.5 |
| Mars Cube One B                                      |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |  1482.4 |      1482.4 |
| ExoMars                                              |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    28.0 |   156.6 |   328.9 |   714.1 |      1227.5 |
| Deep Space Climate Observatory                       |       - |       - |       - |       - |    61.7 |   646.3 |   156.5 |   134.8 |   112.1 |      1111.5 |
| MUSES C                                              |  1076.8 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      1076.8 |
| Mars Exploration Rover #2 Flight                     |   662.2 |   413.7 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |      1075.9 |
| Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite                |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    23.3 |   683.3 |       706.6 |
| MAP                                                  |   702.7 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       702.7 |
| Solar Probe Plus                                     |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |   585.7 |       585.7 |
| Venus Express                                        |    86.0 |    98.3 |    61.2 |     8.2 |   160.5 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       414.2 |
| X-Ray Multi-Mirror                                   |       - |       - |       - |       - |    46.3 |   112.9 |   112.1 |    87.2 |       - |       358.5 |
| Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics   |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |   141.9 |       141.9 |
| GOES-S / GOES-17                                     |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |   114.2 |       114.2 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-10                       |       - |    84.1 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |        84.1 |
| PROCYON                                              |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    64.2 |       - |       - |       - |        64.2 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-13                       |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    31.0 |     5.1 |        36.1 |
| Deep Space Network                                   |     3.1 |     8.6 |     2.1 |    17.2 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |        30.9 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-3                        |    14.8 |     4.9 |       - |       - |     6.8 |       - |       - |     2.8 |       - |        29.2 |
| Exploration Mission 1                                |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    28.9 |        28.9 |
| GOES-P / GOES-15                                     |    22.3 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |        22.3 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-11                       |       - |       - |       - |    19.5 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |        19.5 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-5                        |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |     2.3 |    13.5 |        15.8 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-7                        |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    15.8 |       - |        15.8 |
| GOES-R / GOES-16                                     |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |    11.4 |        11.4 |
| International Cometary Explorer                      |       - |       - |       - |       - |    11.3 |       - |       - |       - |       - |        11.3 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-9                        |       - |     2.6 |       - |       - |       - |     6.0 |       - |     2.3 |       - |        10.8 |
| Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |     8.1 |         8.1 |
| GOES-N / GOES-13                                     |     8.0 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         8.0 |
| GOES-O / GOES-14                                     |     7.9 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         7.9 |
| GSC3                                                 |       - |     7.7 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         7.7 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-4                        |       - |     7.3 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         7.3 |
| Advanced Tracking and Observational Techniques       |       - |     7.2 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         7.2 |
| Goldstone Solar System Radar                         |       - |       - |       - |       - |     7.2 |       - |       - |       - |       - |         7.2 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-8                        |     7.2 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         7.2 |
| TEST                                                 |       - |     5.9 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         5.9 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-12                       |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |     4.3 |       - |         4.3 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-6                        |       - |       - |     4.3 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         4.3 |
| GOES-M / GOES-12                                     |     3.5 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         3.5 |
| Tracking and Data Relay Sat-1                        |     2.5 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         2.5 |
| DSS                                                  |       - |     1.0 |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |       - |         1.0 |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------------+
| Grand Total                                          | 81336.8 | 80632.6 | 86130.7 | 75953.2 | 78056.5 | 83847.4 | 86175.8 | 84917.1 | 55722.5 |    712772.7 |
+------------------------------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+-------------+

Here is a link to the raw CSV straight from NASA, as well as the Excel sheet I used for the above calculations (hosted on archive.org)

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2
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ Thank a lot! Very interesting and exactly what I wanted! $\endgroup$
    – Heopps
    Commented Sep 11, 2018 at 17:04
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ In case someone else also misses it: all numbers are in hours. $\endgroup$
    – camerondm9
    Commented Dec 20, 2022 at 15:00

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