Douglas J. Mudgway is an independent consultant for NASA on the history of deep space planetary communications. After thirty years active service at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, he retired in 1991 and received the NASA Exceptional Achievement medal. He is author of Uplink-Downlink: A History of the Deep Space Network, 1957-1997.
"Many space history books concentrate on the hardware actually launched into space. Few books look at the ground systems needed to successfully operate the spacecraft and receive scientific data. Douglas J. Mudgway's Big Dish is one of those few, looking at the huge, sophisticated mechanical and electronic marvels used to control planetary spacecraft and receive imagery and other data transmitted from hundreds of millions of miles away. The amazing increase in our knowledge of the solar system was made possible not just by rockets and satellites, but also by the 'big dishes' of the Deep Space Network."--David J. Whalen, ARTEL; "The Big Dish antenna of the Deep Space Network is an engineering masterpiece in the capturing of science data in the solar system. This study provides an excellent account of the work that individuals did in making this masterpiece a success and a major contributor to the scientific investigation of space."--Michael Q. Hooks Who?"
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