(This section is yet to be written)
Why a 64 metre antenna?
Bob Leslie:
“JPL let the contract for the erection of the antenna to Collins Radio, Texas, in 1969 and the contract for the building extensions to cater for the new antenna was let by the Department of Works in 1971 to the Buckman Building Group.
Information obtained from CSIRO’s 64 metre radio telescope at Parkes was used in the design of the NASA instrument and this is evident from the family resemblance between the two antennas. The 64 metre antenna was dedicated by Prime Minister Whitlam on 13 April 1973.”
DSS-43 was constructed by Collins Radio between
1969 and 1972 as a 64m (210 foot) antenna.
Although it was designed to be a deep space antenna, its first
operational role was to support Apollo 17 in December 1972. (See Mike
Dinn’s DSS43
Support Plan.)
When it was built, it was decided to give each antenna at Tid
an Aboriginal name. The 64m was named “Ballima”, meaning “very
far away”, and the original 26m antenna was called “Weemala”,
meaning “a distant view”.
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This note about a new antenna was published on page 1 of The Australian, on 5th July 1969.
Also on that front page was a photo of Apollo 11’s Saturn V, ready for the first lunar landing attempt.
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