Pluton (complex)

{{Short description|System of deep space communications and planetary radar}}

{{update|date=December 2016}}

{{Expand Russian|topic=struct|АДУ-1000|date=May 2012}}

{{Infobox telescope

| bgcolour =

| name = Pluton

| image = {{CSS image crop

|Image = Vitino, Pluton deep space communications planetary radars, Crimea.jpg

|bSize = 400

|cWidth = 260

|cHeight = 200

|oTop = 50

|oLeft = 60

}}

| caption = ADU-1000 South Station transmitting array in 2009 (since removed)

| organization = Center for Deep Space Communications

| location = Yevpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine.

| wavelength = Radio 5, 8, 32, and 39 cm

| built = 1960

| website =

| style = Array of Cassegrain reflectors

| diameter = Consisted of eight (8) 16 metre dishes

| area = ≈900 m²

| focal_length =

| mounting = Altitude/azimuth

| dome = None

}}

File:ADU-1000-4.jpg

File:ADU-1000-5.JPG]]

Pluton is a system of deep space communications and planetary radar in Crimea. It was built in the Deep Space Communication Center area 85th Radiotechnical Center of Distance Communications with Space Objects ({{langx|uk|85 радіотехнічний центр телекомунікації з космічними об'єктами}}; {{langx|ru|85 радиотехнический центр дальней связи с космическими объектами}}) in the then Yevpatoria Raion in 1960.

It consists of at least three antennas. Three of them are of the ADU-1000 design, arrays of eight reflector antennas, each with diameter of 16 metres. Two receiving antennas were built at the North StationGrahn, Sven. [http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/radioind/Yevpatoria/Yevpatoria.html Yevpatoria – as the U.S. saw it in the 1960s] at Vityne, and a transmitter was constructed 8.5 kilometres away at the South StationMitchell, Don P. [http://www.mentallandscape.com/V_Telemetry.htm Soviet Telemetry Systems. Deep-Space Communication Centers.] at Zaozerne. Each receiving dish has a Cassegrain system with subreflectors mounted on quadrapods in front of the dishes.Grahn, Sven. [http://www.svengrahn.pp.se/radioind/Russdeep/ADU1000.htm ADU-1000 antennas at Yevpatoria.] The dishes were welded onto the hulls of two diesel submarines and laid onto railway bridge trusses. The ADU-1000 antennas were mounted onto steerable frames constructed from battleship gun turrets and railway bridge trusses.

The Pluton complex was the world's highest capacity deep space communication system prior to Goldstone in 1966. It supported all the Soviet space programs until 1978, when the Yevpatoria RT-70 radio telescope was built and the Pluton became a backup for it.

In 1961, it performed one of the world's first radar detections of the planet Venus. In June 1962 it performed the world's first successful radar detection of Mercury.{{cite web | url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4218/sp4218.htm |title= NASA SP-4218: To See the Unseen – A History of Planetary Radar Astronomy |first=Andrew J. |last=Butrica |publisher = NASA | date=1996 |accessdate=2008-05-15 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823124845/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4218/sp4218.htm|archivedate=2007-08-23}} It performed successful radar detection of Mars in February 1963, and of Jupiter in September–October 1963.

On 19 and 24 November 1962, the words «MIR», «LENIN», and «SSSR» were sent in the direction of the star HD131336 in the constellation Libra. These messages (The Morse Message (1962){{Cite web |url=http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/nonfiction/you-never-get-a-seventh-chance-to-make-a-first-impression-an-awkward-history-of-our-space-transmissions/ |title=You Never Get a Seventh Chance to Make a First Impression: An Awkward History of Our Space Transmissions |publisher=Lightspeed Magazine |first=Genevieve |last=Valentine |date=March 2011 |issue=10}}) are the first radio broadcasts for extraterrestrial civilizations in the history of mankind.[http://www.cplire.ru/html/ra&sr/irm/MIR-LENIN-SSSR.html "MIR, LENIN, SSSR"]

The first Westerner to visit the site was British radio astronomer Bernard Lovell, the Director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory.{{cite news|title=Sir Bernard Lovell feared 'poisoning to remove memories'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-19674135|date=21 September 2012|publisher=BBC|access-date=March 25, 2023}} In 2009, Lovell told The Daily Telegraph that he had developed radiation sickness after the 1963 visit, which he believed was a deliberate attempt by the Soviet authorities, who knew Jodrell Bank was part of the British early-warning system, to assassinate him.{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/space/5362829/Sir-Bernard-Lovell-claims-Russians-tried-to-kill-him-with-radiation.html |title=Sir Bernard Lovell claims Russians tried to kill him with radiation |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=22 May 2009}}

By 11 November 2013, the transmitter antenna at the South Station had been dismantled.{{cite web |title=Последние дни АДУ-1000 |trans-title=Last days of ADU-1000 |date=11 November 2013 |url= http://zaozernoe.net/revizor/2013/11/11/poslednie-dni-adu-1000.html |work=zaozernoe.net |language=ru |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131112085816/http://zaozernoe.net/revizor/2013/11/11/poslednie-dni-adu-1000.html |archive-date=12 November 2013}}

After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the complex came under the control of the Russian Aerospace Forces. Ukrainian intelligence believes that work on modernisation started in 2017. The purpose is unknown; some suggest it is part of the Russian ballistic missile early warning system or to support the operation of the Russian GLONASS system. On 23 June 2024, the North Station site was attacked by five Ukrainian-fired ATACMS missiles. Later satellite pictures showed damage to the complex, while NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System confirmed a fire was burning at the facility. {{cite news |title= Ukraine Used Prized ATACMS Missiles To Strike Unique Cold War-Era Space Communications Station |url=https://www.twz.com/land/ukraine-used-prized-atacms-missiles-to-strike-unique-cold-war-era-space-communications-station |access-date=25 June 2024 |publisher=TWZ |first= Howard |last=Altman |date=24 June 2024 |language=en}}