Previously Featured items
Most recent at the top
September 2024
August 2024
July 2024
Four featured Videos:
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June 2024
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Cooby Creek was the Australian Earth Station for Our World – the first global television programme – on 26 June 1967. In this 2010 interview recorded for honeysucklecreek.net, founder of the ABC’s Science Unit, Dr. Peter Pockley (1935–2013), spoke about the Australian contribution to Our World. More about Our World in the Cooby Creek section. |
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May 2024
April 2024
March 2024
Remeberring Tidbinbilla’s Opening Day, 19 March 1965. Also see the Opening Day page. |
Remembering Honeysuckle Creek’s Opening Day, 17 March 1967. Click here for a full screen version. Photos by Hamish Lindsay, Bruce Withey, Martin Geasley (scanned by Bec Bigg-Wither), Ron Hicks, Danny Twomey, John Saxon, The Australian News and Information Service, Australian Department of Supply, Walkabout Magazine, Goddard News. Also see the Opening Day section. See also: |
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February 2024
Humanity's First Time Around the Moon … And our Next? |
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January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
Astronaut Frank Borman, 1928–2023. NASA pays tribute to Gemini and Apollo Astronaut Frank Borman. Colonel Borman was the Command Pilot of Gemini 7 in December 1965. He and Jim Lovell conducted Orbital Rendezvous with Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford onboard Gemini 6. After their mission, Borman and Schirra visited Australia with their wives in March 1966 – Borman visited Perth, Adelaide, Woomera, Melbourne and Sydney. After the Apollo 1 / AS 204 tragedy in January 1967, Frank Borman was appointed to the Accident Investigation Board and became heavily involved in the redesign of the Apollo Command Module. Only six weeks after the accident, he sent audio greetings to the crowd assembled for the opening of Honeysuckle Creek. Frank Borman is best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first manned flight around the Moon in December 1968. During a live television broadcast on lunar revolution 9, he and Jim Lovell and Bill Anders sent their historic message “for all the people back on Earth”. After the mission, Borman travelled to the Madrid Apollo Station to thank the team for their support. _____________________ Above: Deputy Secretary of the Australian Department of Supply, Lloyd Bott, is pictured with Frank Borman in Melbourne in March 1966. |
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
Start of the Apollo 11 EVA Full screen version. For the full descriptive text, see the video on Vimeo. |
Prime Minister John Gorton at Honeysuckle Creek, Monday 21 July 1969 – after the lunar landing but before the Moonwalk – still photos. |
The Apollo 11 EVA as seen at Honeysuckle – through Ed von Renouard’s Super 8 movie camera. |
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June 2023
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May 2023
The Manned Space Flight Network, 60 and 52 years ago. |
Technical Information Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 5, 03 May 1963. |
April 2023
DSS-43 Tidbinbilla Opening Ceremony, 13th April 1973. See also photos of the Opening Ceremony and photos of the construction (with new scans added). |
DSS-43 Tidbinbilla 40th anniversary celebrations, 13th April 2013. |
12–18 April 1970 Essay by Hamish Lindsay; Pre-mission Simulations; |
LOS Keith Brockelsby, Tidbinbilla Original. |
Carnarvon wildflowers. Photo by Terry Newman.
The Carnarvon 30 foot USB antenna is visible in the distance at left. |
March 2023
Tidbinbilla’s Opening Day, 19 March 1965. |
Honeysuckle Creek’s Opening Day, 17 March 1967. |
Remembering Jim Kirkpatrick and John Lovering. |
Carnarvon from the Air.
A page of aerial photos of Carvarvon township, Tracking Station, and Satellite Earth Station. |
February 2023
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January 2023
Goddaard News, January 13 1969. 8.5MB PDF file. |
December 2022
November 2022
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Technical Information Bulletin of the MSFN, Volume 1, Number 18, 01 November 1963. (Click the image for a 4.7MB PDF file) In this issue: Goddard Computing Center. WWV, ‘Big Ben’ of Network. SCAMA 304 switchboard features 220 line capacity AND built-in ashtrays! The TIBs were published by the Goddard Space Flight Center’s Manned Flight Operations Division for Network personnel. Those TIBs already online can be found here. |
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
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July 2022
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NASA Apollo 11 Audio News Features |
The Apollo 11 Moonwalk as seen at Honeysuckle Creek – unique footage. |
Honeysuckle Creek under snow Undated photo by Hamish Lindsay. |
Carnarvon from the Air.
A new page of aerial photos of Carvarvon township, Tracking Station, and Satellite Earth Station. |
June 2022
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Founder of the ABC’s Science Unit, Dr. Peter Pockley (1935–2013) spoke about the Australian contribution to Our World in this excerpt from an interview recorded for honeysucklecreek.net in 2010. To put the above segment into context, |
Watch the first few minutes of Our World, as it was seen in Australia. The presenter is the ABC’s James Dibble. Video courtesy WA TV History. |
First American EVA – Gemini IV – 57th anniversary. A key early mission for Carnarvon. 4 – 6 June 1965. |
May 2022
Apollo 10 – 53rd Anniversary, 18 – 26 May 1969 New: Audio recorded at Honeysuckle. |
April 2022
17–28 April 1972 |
12-18 April 1970 (AEST) |
March 2022
Remembering Honeysuckle Creek’s Opening Day, 17 March 1967. Click here for a full screen version. Also see the Opening Day section, including audio of the speeches. |
February 2022
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John Glenn sent this message to the people of Perth, and all who tracked him on his passage across Australia, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary in February 2012. (Full screen here.) |
The team at Muchea tracked John Glenn as he crossed the coast (full screen here) before handing him over to … |
Red Lake, north of Woomera (full screen here). |
January 2022
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Here is a print-it-yourself Honeysuckle Creek Wall Calendar for 2022. |
The Manned Space Flight Network in January 1965 |
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December 2021
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The Manned Space Flight Network in December 1967 |
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Here is a 1976 photo of Dr. James Fletcher; Dr. George Low; Dr. Thomas Paine and Mr. James E. Webb, past Administrators of NASA; as well as – Robert F. Seamans, Jr, Administrator of NASA and Dr. T. Keith Glennan, first Administrator of NASA. |
November 2021
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News from November 1968 |
October 2021.
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What was happening in the MSFN 58 years ago |
September 2021.
What was happening in the MSFN in 1968 |
August 2021.
July 2021.
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What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
June 2021.
What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
May 2021.
On 13 May 2021, the former Orroral Valley 26 metre antenna celebrates its 35th Anniversary as the Mount Pleasant Radio Telescope in Tasmania. |
The 60th anniversary of Alan Shepard’s sub-orbital flight On 5th May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to be fired into space. His 15 minute suborbital flight paved the way for more ambitious missions. Only twenty days later, President John F. Kennedy committed the United States to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. Click the image for his visit to Honeysuckle Creek in October 1968. |
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Alan Shepard visits Honeysuckle Creek, October 1968. |
18 – 26 May 1969 |
What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
April 2021.
LOS Michael Collins 1930-2021 See our Apollo 11 section, and listen to Mike explain that “everything’s going just swimmingly” (The descent and landing) just prior to the lunar landing. (During the Apollo 11 EVA, Mike Dinn confirms to Network, Ernie Randall, in Houston that President Nixon’s voice is going up to Mike Collins in the CSM through HSKX Tidbinbilla. This is to allow Collins to hear the President’s conversation with Armstrong and Aldrin. Their audio is going through Goldstone. Audio clip here.) |
17–28 April 1972 Essay by Hamish Lindsay; Audio and Video; Honeysuckle station log. |
Apollo 13 51st anniversary. |
Bruce Window’s notes on audio items of interest from the newly-released MOCR console audio recordings. |
STS-1 40th anniversary. |
Phillip Chapman. |
What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
March 2021.
60th Anniversary of the Opening of Muchea Tracking Station, Opened 24th March 1961. |
Honeysuckle Creek – opened 17th March 1967. |
New scans of photos of Honeysuckle’s Opening Day – Here, here and here. |
Remembering Honeysuckle Creek’s Opening Day, 17 March 1967. Click here for a full screen version. Also see the Opening Day section, including audio of the speeches. Photos by Hamish Lindsay, Bruce Withey, Martin Geasley (scanned by Bec Bigg-Wither), Ron Hicks, Danny Twomey, John Saxon, The Australian News and Information Service, Australian Department of Supply, Walkabout Magazine, Goddard News. |
The story of the Honeysuckle Command Data Kludge – from Bryan Sullivan. |
Apollo 9 52nd anniversary. |
What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
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February 2021.
The site of Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, within the Namadgi National Park, remains closed a year after the devastating bushfire which began in the Orroral Valley. In February 2021 we were allowed to visit the site to report on how the place is faring. The amazing work of the firefighters, aided by airdrops of fire retardant, is evident. Special thanks to Brett McNamara, Manager of Namadgi National Park, for allowing us access. He tells us that plans to reopen the park are progressing – and it may happen around Easter 2021. Stay tuned. For full screen, watch on Vimeo. |
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Apollo 14 50th anniversary. |
What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
January 2021.
What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
George Mueller and members of the MSFN Inspection Team, 7th and 8th January 1967. |
December 2020.
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November 2020.
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October 2020.
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September 2020.
August 2020.
Four of the original Tidbinbilla engineering team that was assembled in mid 1963. |
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July 2020.
June 2020.
May 2020.
April 2020.
(Dates in Eastern Australia) Essay by Hamish Lindsay; Pre-mission Simulations; |
Bruce Window’s notes on audio items of interest from the newly-released MOCR console audio recordings. |
Glen Nagle has produced a wonderful PDF booklet version of Hamish Lindsay’s Apollo 13 essay. Click the image for a 3.6MB PDF file. |
The Launch of Apollo 13 – as seen by the Westinghouse Color Camera. Westinghouse Apollo TV Manager |
Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert work on water management in Aquarius in this composite photo. |
March 2020.
Honeysuckle Creek Opening Day, 17th March 1967 |
Tidbinbilla Opening Day, 19th March 1965 |
February 2020.
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January 2020.
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
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December 2019.
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On each of the videos below, you might need to click on the link
(or the Vimeo logo) to see it in full screen.
November 2019.
A Pinpoint Landing 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 12 Mission Click here for a PDF file of the Manned Flight Awareness crew portraits. Listen to: all recorded at Honeysuckle Creek. Also see Hamish Lindsay’s Apollo 12 essay. |
December 1963 – Goddard Mourns President Kennedy |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
The Apollo 11 crew and their wives in Sydney, Saturday 1st November 1969. (Footage courtesy of Stephen Slater.) More on their visit here. |
October 2019.
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
September 2019.
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
August 2019.
Tidbinbilla’s Forgotten Role in Apollo
Published in July 2019, this booklet outlines the key role played in the Apollo Program by HSKX, Honeysuckle Creek’s ‘Wing’ Station at Tidbinbilla. Download the booklet as a 900kb PDF file, courtesy of John Heath, Bruce Window and Mike Dinn. (A handful of printed copies are still available from John Heath.) |
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See also the Tidbinbilla section. |
Remembering Carnarvon
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
Late July 2019.
Remembering Christopher Columbus Kraft |
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The team at Namadgi National Park (the custodians of the Honeysuckle Creek site) produced this video for the Apollo 11 50th anniversary. It includes vision of the new installation erected to remember Apollo 11. |
Apollo 11 50th Anniversary – July 2019.
Moon Week in Canberra |
“We have just switched video to Honeysuckle.” – Houston TV. From Mike Dinn – Some helpful thoughts about over-analysing the past. |
The first step – what the world saw. (Net 2 audio added on right channel.) |
The Apollo 11 Moonwalk as seen at Honeysuckle Creek – unique footage. |
NASA Apollo 11 Audio News Features |
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The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
June 2019.
How did the Apollo 11 EVA television reach Europe and the UK? The long way around. Read why here. |
Click each image for a 700kb PDF file. These were designed for the celebrations in Canberra. You are very welcome to use either. Credit or a link back here would be appreciated. |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
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May 2019.
18 – 26 May 1969 |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 56 years ago |
April 2019.
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Apollo 13 Returns from the Moon – early on 18th April AEST 1970. |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
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March 2019.
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The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
February 2019.
Celebrations at Muchea, February 1962 |
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Teletype Operator Glenis Wilkerson celebrates her 21st Birthday at Muchea Tracking Station, while waiting for the (delayed) launch of John Glenn’s Friendship 7. |
RAAF Flight Surgeon Warren Bishop with US Flight Surgeon Ed Beckman and Capcom Astronaut Gordon Cooper celebrate at Muchea after Friendship 7. |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
January 2019.
Honeysuckle Creek today |
The Manned Space Flight Network, 50 years ago |
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December 2018.
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Apollo 8 – Christmas Day (Australian time) / Christmas Eve (US time) 1968. A message to all the people back on Earth. On Vimeo. See also the Apollo 8 section. |
Hear the Message “for All the People Back on Earth” – with Onboard audio. On Vimeo. |
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November 2018.
Honeysuckle Creek Released 01 November 2018. “A wonderful and inspirational story, beautifully told. As hard as it is to do this extraordinary yarn justice, Andrew Tink has done it.” – Peter FitzSimons. |
Royal Australian Mint Moon Landing Coins to commemorate the Moon Landing. Released 01 November 2018. Click here for the Royal Australian Mint catalogue page (PDF) – or here for a high res scan of the catalogue image of the coins (3MB jpg). Also read the text on the back of the uncirculated coins set. |
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What was happening in the MSFN 50 years ago |
October 2018
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Apollo 7’s Donn Eisele and Wally Schirra during their first TV broadcast. |
September 2018.
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Featured essay: With the 50th anniversary of Apollo 7 coming up, Hamish Lindsay recounts Honeysuckle’s Creek preparations to support manned Apollo missions. In Septrember 1968, just a month before Apollo 7, astronaut Alan Shepard visited Honeysuckle Creek. He is seen here with Station Director Tom Reid. |
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 EVA |
August 2018
Honeysuckle Creek tracks Apollo 15 As darkness fell on Wednesday 4th August 1971, Hamish Lindsay took this photo of the Honeysuckle Creek antenna tracking Apollo 15 in lunar orbit. The CSM was in its 68th revolution of the Moon The photo was taken from around this spot between two boulders adjacent to the antenna pad. Negative scan and image processing: Colin Mackellar. |
Earlier, some time after 4:00pm, Hamish took this photo of the Moon rising above the Honeysuckle Operations Building. (The Moon has risen at 2:25pm sunset was at 5:23pm.) The Apollo 15 crew had completed their lunar surface activities, and were back together in Lunar Orbit. The CSM was in its 67th revolution of the Moon. Negative scan: Colin Mackellar. |
July 2018.
The Honeysuckle Apollo 11 Team Most of Honeysuckle Creek’s team for Apollo 11, photographed in front of the dish by Hamish Lindsay in early August 1969. Full frame, Larger (2.6MB). |
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Hamish Lindsay used the station’s cherrypicker to capture this classic winter photo of Honeysuckle Creek. Large, Larger (4.3MB). More photos of snow at Honeysuckle. |
June 2018.
Honeysuckle’s Bryan Sullivan outlines how the Honeysuckle Creek Apollo Tracking Station worked. In the Station section. |
May 2018
Remembering Alan Bean We are saddened to report that Apollo 12 and Skylab Astronaut Alan Bean (right) has died in Houston. Alan, along with Pete Conrad and Dick Gordon, journeyed to the Moon onboard Apollo 12 in November 1969. Here Pete and Al land on the lunar surface, on 19 November 1969. “Alan Bean is one of the great renaissance men of his generation — engineer, fighter pilot, astronaut and artist.” – Apollo 17 Astronaut Harrison Schmitt. |
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With the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 approaching, Phil Cummings and Glyn Lehmann have written four songs of the Space Race. (External link) |
Something different: The British band, Public Service Broadcasting (who have just toured Australia), performed their song “Go!”, about the Apollo 11 lunar landing, at Brixton Academy in London in November 2015. |
April 2018.
12–18 April 1970 Essay by Hamish Lindsay; Pre-mission Simulations; |
Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert work on water management in Aquarius in a new composite photo. |
After an agonisingly long blackout, ARIA 4 brought news of the successful re-entry of Apollo 13. |
17–28 April 1972 Essay by Hamish Lindsay; Audio and Video; Honeysuckle station log. |
March 2018
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February 2018
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January 2018
Three years to the day before the first manned lunar landing, this photo of Gemini 10 (with John Young and Mike Collins onboard) and the Gemini 8 Agena Target Vehicle was taken from Woomera by the Baker-Nunn tracking camera. Photo and notes by Ed von Renouard. Ed writes: Full photo, Key. Loaned to Hamish Lindsay. Scan by Colin Mackellar. |
December 2017
Apollo 8 reaches the Moon – Tuesday 24 December 1968. Hear the moments leading up to LOS as recorded direct from the downlink at Honeysuckle. 140kb mp3. 1' 08". Starting at 068:57:06 GET. Honeysuckle was prime at this point. More on this page in the Apollo 8 section. |
November 2017
Remembering Apollo 12: 15th – 25th November 1969. |
Featured link From Apollo 17 Astronaut, Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt, the last man to step onto the lunar surface: |
October 2017
September 2017
New photos of Muchea Tracking Station, 1962. |
Follow Cassini’s final plunge into Saturn via Canberra DSN on Twitter, or JPL. |
DSS-43 at Tidbinbilla / CDSCC on Wednesday 6th September 2017 – the 40th anniversary of the launch of Voyager 1. |
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July 2017 – Apollo 11 48th Anniversary |
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Interviews relating to Apollo 11 Mike Dinn – Honeysuckle Deputy Director. Don Gray – Tidbinbilla Station Director (see part 8). Dick Nafzger – Goddard, Apollo TV Ground Support Engineer. Bruce Ekert – PMG, HSK-Sydney microwave links. |
How the TV would have looked if the camera had been mounted horizontally. On Vimeo. Also on this page in the Apollo 11 TV section. |
Stan Lebar, Program Manager for Westinghouse Lunar Television Cameras, spoke in Canberra, tells two stories of how people saw the live television from the lunar surface. March 2006. On Vimeo. Also on this page in the Apollo 11 TV section. |
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June 2017
Gemini IV – 52nd anniversary. A key early mission for Carnarvon. 4 – 6 June 1965. |
50th Anniversaries
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Founder of the ABC’s Science Unit, Dr. Peter Pockley (1935 - 2013) spoke about the Australian contribution to Our World in this excerpt from an interview recorded for honeysucklecreek.net in 2010. To put the above segment into context, |
Watch the first few minutes of Our World, as it was seen in Australia. The presenter is the ABC’s James Dibble. Video courtesy WA TV History. |
May 2017
Honeysuckle Creek before opening – by Ian Hahn. Taken from the water tank. New scan. Large (460kb), Larger (2.2MB). (More high res scans to come. Earlier scans here.) |
April 2017
“Stargazing Live” featured the Apollo 13 story. Learn the real story of Apollo 13, and the Australian connection, below – |
Apollo 13 section includes –
Essay by Hamish Lindsay; Pre-mission Simulations; |
March 2017
70 second home movie of the Opening Day |
larger: 7MB PDF. |
larger: 5MB PDF. |
Special thanks to Glen Nagle at CDSCC for producing these lovely commemorative posters. Design ideas and images by Hamish Lindsay. |
January 2017
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Gene Cernan (1934 – 2017) |
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Featured December 2016 |
Remembering John Glenn (1921 – 2016) |
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This message from John Glenn was sent to the people of Perth, and all who tracked him on his passage across Australia, for the 50th anniversary of his flight in 2012. |
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November 2016
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October 2016
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of And more on the celebrations from coobytrackingstation.com. |
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of And more on the celebrations from coobytrackingstation.com. |
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Apollo 11 audio files |
Here are some audio files to help you remember the mission: Launch audio – Network Controller and Flight Director’s loops. |
Also featured |
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March 2016
Featured, March 2016
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Stan Lebar at the National Museum of Australia More on Stan’s visit, and the 2006 Apollo Reunion, on this page. |
February 2016
The sad loss has been announced of Apollo 14 Moonwalker Ed Mitchell. Our Apollo 14 section (with a new essay by Hamish Lindsay) is in the works and will be available soon. |
On the anniversary of the flight of Friendship 7 (20th February 1962), Journalist John Penlington shares his experience of covering the flight at Muchea Tracking Station. |
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Featured: December 2015
See the Apollo 17 section. Hear the landing. And an external link – follow Apollo 17 in real time. |
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Apollo 8: 21st – 28th December 1968 The second half of Apollo 8’s fourth television broadcast See excerpts from the onboard TV. Hear also air-ground audio recorded at Honeysuckle Creek. This and more in the Apollo 8 section. |
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Featured: November 2015
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Featured: October 2015
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On March 16 2006, during his talk at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, Westinghouse Lunar TV Camera Manager Stan Lebar spoke about how the Westinghouse Color Camera was used to show the launch of Apollo 13 on April 11 1970. Other highlights for the 45th anniversary of the mission |
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HSK opens – updated scan |
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Celebrating 50 years of one of the world’s great tracking stations. (Graphic courtesy of, and designed by, Glen Nagle, CDSCC.) |
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Featured: October 2014
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45th Anniversary of Apollo 11 |
Letter to the 45th anniversary Lunch from Chris Kraft. (360kb PDF file.) |
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Apollo 13 Returns from the Moon – early on 18th April AEST 1970. |
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As the pioneering ABC Science Broadcaster, Peter was an enthusiastic supporter of Australian efforts in space tracking, exploration and astronomy. Tribute here. |
Apollo 11 44th Anniversary |
Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st July 2013 at Questacon in Canberra. |
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Featured May 2013 |
DSS-43 Tidbinbilla 40th anniversary celebrations, 13th April 2013. |
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