Project ANNA was a joint US Military and NASA Geodetic satellite program, since determination of the size and shape of the Earth had important military and civilian applications.
ANNA stood for Army, Navy, NASA, Air Force, and was the first dedicated satellite for geodesy.
Conceived around 1960, the ANNA-1B satellite was launched in 1962.
Not much information is available about the ANNA station. Muchea’s Jack Duperouzel remembers that several of the Muchea team went to Darwin for the Project ANNA effort as Muchea closed at the end of Project Mercury. Among them were Ken Lee, who led the team, Jack Moir and Peter Finlayson. Another was Ronald Sparks, ex-PMG. Jack Duperouzel remembers him as possibly on the Muchea installation group.
The ANNA telemetry van from the Pacific Missile Range was first sent to Muchea, presumably for training. It was then shipped to Darwin via Fremantle.
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The Project ANNA team with the telemetry van at Muchea.
Team leader Ken Lee is at the back on the right.
Second from the left appears to be Jack Moir.
Photo: Ronald Sparks. Scan: Teresa Sparks.
(No higher resolution currently available.)
Special thanks to Teresa Sparks for these and some of the other photos on this page.
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The Project ANNA telemetry van at Muchea.
The tower on the right appears to be the stand for the northern-most of the Acquisition Aid antennas, adjacent to the T&C Building – however the antenna has now been removed. Muchea had already tracked its last mission and much of the equipment had been transferred to Carnarvon.
Photo: Ronald Sparks. Scan: Teresa Sparks.
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The ANNA van enroute from Muchea to Darwin.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Poor quality scan by Colin Mackellar.
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The ANNA van enroute from Muchea to Darwin.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan by Colin Mackellar.
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The ANNA van being loaded onto the Australian Government owned cargo ship SS Dulverton in Fremantle, for transport to Darwin.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan by Colin Mackellar.
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At Darwin, the ANNA telemetry van was installed adjacent to the Emery Point Lighthouse, on the solid foundation of a pre-World War II gun emplacement. It was several hundred metres away from the larger OGO telemetry site which was established about the same time.
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The Darwin Project ANNA Team.
No. 1.
No. 2.
No. 3 Ken Lee (ex-Muchea)
No. 4.
Jack Moir. (ex-Muchea)
No. 5. Ronald Sparks.
(PMG / ex-Muchea. ID thanks to Teresa Sparks)
No. 6.
No. 7.
No. 8.
No. 9.
Can you help with indentification? Contact.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan and image processing by Colin Mackellar.
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Team leader Ken Lee at the door of the ANNA van.
From 1964 Department of Supply silent footage.
Click the image for the 12.4MB mp4 file.
This footage also includes some views of the nearby OGO station.
The ANNA station is seen between 00:51 and 01:12.
(Courtesy of Glen Nagle and the Tidbinbilla archives.
With special thanks to Ian MacKenzie for the digital transfer. Identification and editing by Colin Mackellar.)
Ken Lee was born and educated in Britain. He served on the VERLORT Radar at Muchea, before taking on the ANNA Project. He was present at Carnarvon in 1966 during Network Simulation Test 2, apparently learning Apollo procedures prior to becoming Operations Supervisor at Honeysuckle Creek later that year. Previously, Ken had worked on the DEW Line in the far north of Canada.
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Emery Point Lighthouse, as seen from the roof of the Telemetry van.
The hill in the distance is 11km to the South, across the channel.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan by Colin Mackellar.
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Looking north, from the Lighthouse, towards East Point.
The PMR Van is located on the southern gun emplacement.
Adjacent to the site, on the other side of the line of trees, is a pistol range.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan by Colin Mackellar.
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Another view, looking north, from the Lighthouse, towards East Point.
Photo: Ronald Sparks. Scan: Teresa Sparks.
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Looking SSE, from a point adjacent to the pistol range targets.
The booths for the pistol range are at left.
From the Tidbinbilla archives. Scan by Colin Mackellar.
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ANNA site from behind the pistol range targets.
Photo: Ronald Sparks. Scan: Teresa Sparks.
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ANNA site from the top of the embankment behind the pistol range targets.
Photo: Ronald Sparks. Scan: Teresa Sparks.
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Another view of the ANNA site.
Photo: Ronald Sparks. Scan: Teresa Sparks.
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