Neil Sandford (right) speaks with ARIA Control’s Stan Anderson at the Apollo 11 40th Anniversary luncheon in Canberra, July 21, 2009.

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Neil Sandford (1930-2013) was a much-loved member of the Honeysuckle team. Not only was he a very highly regarded space tracker, but he was also very well respected in the New Zealand and Australian radio communication fraternity. He is sadly missed.

This interview was recorded by Colin Mackellar on 23 and 24 January 2013 at Port Macquarie, New South Wales.

Special thanks also to Vera Sandford, and to Paul Mullen, for helping make this interview possible.

Apologies that not all sections have been edited – they are on the way!

Interview Part 1 – Early life in New Zealand

(to come)

Interview Part 2 – New Zealand Post Office

(to come)

Interview Part 3 – Establishing Scott Base

(to come)

Interview Part 4 – Cooby Creek Tracking Station, Queensland

part 4

3-01. Acceptance for Cooby and flying to Rosman for training.
3-02. Going to Toowoomba.
3-03. DCA Experiments.
3-04. About Cooby, and ATS-1 and ATS-2.
3-05. Extended Operation.
3-06. Our World (brief mention).

(While not all in chronological order, these segments are in the order they were discussed. The DCA experiments are part of the Extended Operation.)

Interview Part 5 – Honeysuckle Creek

(to come)

Interview Part 6 – Tidbinbilla

(to come)

Interview Part 7 – After Tidbinbilla

(to come)

Neil Sandford at his home in January 2013.