Telecommunication support for the Apollo programme

Apollo lunar-landing missions depend on effective co-ordination of space-vehicle and ground-system operations. The telecommunication support role is to ensure that the needed information is transferred reliably and effectively. For Apollo, such support is accomplished primarily by the tracking and data-acquisition facilities of the Manned Space Flight Network and the point-to-point communication capabilities of the NASA communication network. This article describes the functions of these networks as they are used with the space vehicles and the mission-control centre for the Apollo lunar-landing programme.