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Red Lake, Woomera

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These are frames from a film of Red Lake – almost certainly taken by a Department of Supply film crew.

Assuming that this film was taken at the same time as the film of Muchea, this is around November 1962
(though, on the film, the weather looks cold and windy).

Red Lake FPS-16 Radar

The Red Lake FPS-16 Radar made available to NASA to track Mercury (and later, Gemini) capsules as they passed over central Australia.

The Red Lake FPS-16 Radar.

The FPS-16 installation at Red Lake.

The FPS-16 at night.

Inside the FPS-16 building, manned by personnel from Ranges Group. The FPS-16 control panel is in the background. The operator in the foreground is manning the IRACQ (Increased RAnge aCQuisition modification) console.

The IRACQ console.

 

Red Lake Telemetry building

The NASA Mercury Tracking Station at Red Lake – as viewed from the FPS-16 Radar site. Looking towards the East-Southeast.

A panaorama of the NASA Mercury Tracking Station – from the access road. Panorama assembled from frames of a pan with the movie camera.

The Red Lake height-diversity quad helix antennas and the Telemetry building.

Two of the Red Lake personnel make adjustments to the antenna.

 

 

With thanks to Mark Gray and Spacecraft Films for the footage used to make these screenshots.

The footage is available on Disc 2 of the Spacecraft Films excellent “Project Mercury” 6 DVD set. I am told it is also available on the CD included with Apogee Books’ Friendship 7 Mission Report.

Screenshots selected, colour-corrected (with varying success) and anotated by Colin Mackellar.

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