The Madrid Apollo Station (three letter code MAD)
was one of the three 85 foot prime stations purpose-built for Apollo. It was
built at Fresnedillas near Madrid. (Co-ordinates: 40.4579667 N, -4.1657528 W with thanks to Luis F. Rojo.)
Like Honeysuckle and Goldstone, Madrid had an Apollo wing
station. In this case a section of the nearby DSN station at Robledo de
Chavela (now known as the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex) was modified
for Apollo USB operations. Robledo de Chavela is 56km west of Madrid.
Though Madrid missed out on the Apollo 11 EVA (the Moon
was below the horizon at Madrid), those at the station had their share of glory.
Notably, this included live TV from Apollo 8 in lunar orbit (Transmission 3) on Christmas Eve
1968 and tracking the Apollo 11 astronauts as they lifted off from the
lunar surface on July 21 (Madrid time) 1969.
To learn more, please see the Fresnedillas Lunar Museum.
Update: As of 2020, there is a discussion forum for Madrid Apollo veterans.
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This sign greeted visitors to the Madrid
Apollo station.
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The main entrance. Photo: Larry Haug.
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