A Tribute to the men and women of
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, Canberra, Australia

the wider Australian involvement
in manned and unmanned space exploration, and more!

Updated 09 August 2026. | News & Events 03 December 2025.


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Featured for August 2026

Featured

The above image is for August in the 2026 Honeysuckle and NASA Networks (completely unofficial) Calendar on my personal website.

In the late 1970s, the original Tidbinbilla antenna, DSS42, was upgraded and extended from 26 metres to 34 metres.

To allow ground clearance for the larger antenna, two concrete-lined trenches were formed at the front and back of the antenna. In this photo by Hamish Lindsay, the job is almost complete.

See more on the DSS42 extension here – in the Tidbinbilla section.


Featured

In March 1972, JPL Rep to Australia Walt Larkin filed this Accident Report.

 
Essays by Hamish Lindsay – four more in PDF format:

Featured

Hamish Lindsay penned many wonderful essays for this website – Here’s an index of those available in html and PDF formats.

New in PDF format this month are Honeysuckle Goes Deep Space, Pioneers 6 to E; Helios; and Honeysuckle’s Last Track.

 

Featured photos for August –

featured

It’s cold at DSIF42 (i.e. DSS42) Tidbinbilla, with snow on the surrounding hills, as the antenna is assembled on 12 August 1964.
Photo preserved by Stew Burton.


featured

By 31 August 1964, the reflector support structure is well on the way. Note the theodolite mounted at the centre of the structure.

The Mess and sleeping accommodation, just inside the main gate, is visible in the distance at upper centre.

Photo preserved by Stew Burton.


Featured

Remembering Apollo 15, 26 July – 08 August 1971.


See the full collection of featured items at this link.


Also see some related (and some unrelated!) video at vimeo.com/honeysuckle.

Some of them are collected here.


Site Menu

Updates | News| Previously featured items

The Big Picture

Hamish Lindsay’s essays

Honeysuckle Creek

Intro
Early Days (Location, Construction, Early scenes, Opening)
The Station (Technical descriptions, photos)
Honeysuckle People, Stories and Reunions. (incl. Visitors, StaDirs, Memorabilia, Photos of People at work, and more.)

Apollo Missions

The Manned Space Flight Network,
Mission Control Center - Houston
,
MSFN Technical Information Bulletins

Preparing for Apollo, Goddard Sims, Station Readiness Tests,

Apollo Summary,

Apollo 1, Apollo 7, Apollo 8, Apollo 9, Apollo 10, Apollo 11, Apollo 11 TV, Apollo 12, Apollo 13, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16, Apollo 17, ALSEP, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Leaving the MSFN.

Deep Space Missions

Last Days Honeysuckle Today The Books

Videos

Interviews

Space People

Other

Other Stations
Tidbinbilla
, Goldstone, Madrid, Carnarvon, Guam, Ascension Island, ARIA, Deakin Switch, Parkes, Muchea, Red Lake, Island Lagoon, Orroral Valley, Cooby Creek, Carnarvon OTC, OTC (Aust), BFEC, Santiago, Darwin, Texas (Corpus Christi), MILA.

Missions Supported by Other Stations
Mercury: Friendship 7, Faith 7.
Gemini:
Gemini 3, Gemini 4, Gemini 5, Gemini 12.
Mariner IV, Ranger, Lunar Orbiter, Surveyor, Pioneer, Viking, Voyager.

Department of Supply
Pioneers
, WRESAT, Woomera.

About / Contact

Tips on navigating the site
Links


Featured

A message from Christopher Kraft, 14 March 1974, on the occasion of Honeysuckle leaving the Manned Space Flight Network.


Honeysuckle featured photo
Honeysuckle featured photo

Honeysuckle Creek
The story of Tom Reid, a little dish, and Neil Armstrong’s First Step
– by Andrew Tink, 2019.

Click for more about the book.

In 2019, the Royal Australian Mint Moon Landing Coins commemorated the Moon landing.

Click for more about the coins.


Honeysuckle in 1971

Neil Armstrong on the footpad – as seen at Honeysuckle Creek

Honeysuckle Creek:
a beautiful setting

Website by Colin Mackellar – photo taken 09 October 1971.


Prime Minister Gorton’s statement
Prime Minister Gorton’s statement

Australian Prime Minister John Gorton visits Honeysuckle Creek on the day of the Moon Landing, Monday 21 July 1969. Silent film runs for 4'02" – a 14MB MPEG4 file.

The Prime Minister after his tour inside Honeysuckle’s Operations building. Unedited news film runs for 5'14" – a 21MB MPEG4 file.

Both clips courtesy of the ABC. See more of the Prime Minister’s visit here.

The Honeysuckle antenna today

Honeysuckle featured photoThe old Honeysuckle antenna was used for its last official track in January 2010.

DSS46 photos.

And here’s a tribute page of photos on the occasion of the shutdown.




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