杏吧原创

So many spacecraft will be exploring Mars and the Solar System in three years
that NASA is worried they鈥檒l get 鈥渂usy鈥� signals when they try to phone home.
Demand for tracking probes, collecting data from them and relaying control
signals, threatens to overwhelm NASA鈥檚 Deep Space Network, which tracks most
missions beyond Earth orbit from sites in California, Spain and Australia. Rich
Miller, mission officer at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Lab, says that the system will
be 鈥�200 to 300 per cent oversubscribed鈥� during some critical periods. JPL is now
attempting to work out if upgraded antennas, better tracking techniques or
renting time on other antennas could ease the logjam.