MILA contains thirteen antennas and equipment to provide communications between a space vehicle (like the Shuttle Orbiter) and its control center Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for the Shuttle during its mission). Antennas at MILA track or point directly at the radio frequency signals transmitted from a moving space vehicle. A ranging signal transmitted from MILA to the space vehicle and back again establishes the distance between MILA and the vehicle by how long the two way trip takes.
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