On September 16, 2025, a group of AVARC Members attended a tour of the NASA Goldstone Deep Space Network antenna sites.  This was a driving tour that took us to three different locations deep inside NASA Goldstone which is located on Fort Irwin, about 30 minutes north of Barstow literally in the middle of nowhere!

The tour began at the gate to Fort Irwin where we met our tour guides Leslie and Diana.  From there we caravaned in our vehicles to the NASA gate where we issued temporary badges allowing us access to the NASA facility with our escort.

We started at Echo Base which is the administrative buildings and the site of a the Deep Space Station 12 (DSS-12) antenna which is 26 meters (85 feet) in diameter.  We took a water break and visited the museum before getting on the road to our first stop at the Apollo station.

The Apollo beam wave guide (BWG) is a cluster of three 34 meter antennas that can be arrayed together.  

Our last stop was at Mars station, home of DSS-14, and the largest antenna measuring 70 meters!  We also got to see the inside of the control room for all the DSN antenna sites.

Lots of photos were taken.  Mike, K6YQO, shared a Flickr Album with lots of photos.  Some of them are below.  I also created a Google album if that’s your thing.  Enjoy.