Jim Lux of JPL will describe how we use the Deep Space Network (DSN) to communicate with spacecraft at the Moon, Mars, and past the end of the Solar System. He’ll discuss the challenges of communicating with a lander that’s not visible from Earth, and how cubesats like the MarCO relays (Wall-E and Eve) enabled controllers on the ground to know that Insight had landed successfully a few minutes after it happened.

Jim Lux is part of the Communications, Radar, and Tracking Division at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He is currently managing the DARPA High Frequency Research (DHFR) Space Testbed, a cubesat measures tiny signals from galaxy’s center from above the ionosphere. Mr. Lux has been at JPL for 19 years, following award winning work in physical special effects for film and TV, design and development of electronic warfare.