Manned Space Flight Network

The Manned Space Flight Network (abbreviated MSFN, pronounced "misfin") was a set of tracking stations built to support the American Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab space programs.

There were two other NASA space communication networks at the time, the Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN) for tracking satellites in low Earth orbit, and the Deep Space Network (DSN) for tracking more distant uncrewed missions. After the end of Skylab, the MSFN and STADAN were merged to form the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network (STDN). STDN was in turn replaced by the satellite-based Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) during the Space Shuttle program, being used as of 2009.[1]

  1. ^ Soumyajit Mandal. "Engineering Apollo, Interview Report: Deep Space Network Support for the Apollo Missions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2006. Retrieved July 2, 2008.