Apollo 15

26 July – 08 August 1971

The Most Complex Mission Yet



In this section

HSK antenna during Apollo 15

Apollo 15 was Honeysuckle’s big mission.

It was the first of the ‘J’ missions. Not only was it technically far more complex – involving support of the Rover and a sub-satellite – but Honeysuckle was prime for much of the mission.

Of Apollo 15’s 295 hours in space, Honeysuckle Creek tracked the spacecraft for 250 hours.

Hamish Lindsay took the photo of sunrise behind the dish from the roof of the Ops Building. The antenna is pointed at the Coll. Tower. The passive repeater link to Tidbinbilla is on Deadman’s Hill – at left.

Large, Largest (2.1MB).


Letter from the crew

This letter – sent by the Apollo 15 crew to the tracking network before the mission – underlines the crucial role of the Manned Space Flight Network.

Scan: Hamish Lindsay.