1935 – 2023
Honeysuckle Creek, Orroral Valley
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Ian Grant
Station Deputy Director 1968 – 1972.
Station Director 20 February 1978 – 20 November 1981.
Photo: by Hamish Lindsay.
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Ian Fergus Grant was born in Glasgow in 1935.
During his schooling at Kelvinside Academy, his aptitude in Science was recognised by his teachers. Ian was someone who wanted to know how things worked – and who, even from an early age, thought a lot about the Moon. But whoever would have imagined that only a couple of decades later, Ian Grant would play a role in landing men on the Moon, and returning them safely to the Earth?
Ian studied at the Royal College of Science and Technology in Glasgow – now known as the University of Strathclyde. He graduated in 1959 with First Class Honours in Electrical Engineering.
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Ian was awarded a Bachelor of Science, First Class Honours, at the University of Strathclyde in 1959.
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Ian’s graduation was followed by a period of Post Graduate research in electronics.
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Ian and his beloved Motorcycle in the Lakes District.
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It’s no surprise that, after he married Doris, Ian found employment with Hawker Siddeley Aviation in Coventry, as a Telemetry Engineer, designing and testing guided missiles.
However, in 1965, came the big move all the way to Australia. First of all, to the Aeronautical Research Laboratories at Fishermens Bend in Melbourne.
There, Ian was an Experimental Officer, working on development of the Ikara Missile.
But the Moon was beckoning, and in 1968, Ian was appointed as Deputy Station Director at the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, outside Canberra. Ian was there, in December 1968, when men first made the long journey from the Earth to circle the Moon for a day, and then to return.
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Mike Dinn (seated) and Ian Grant at the Honeysuckle Creek Operations Console during Apollo 8, December 1968.
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Ian was also there, seven months later, for the historic Apollo 11 mission.
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Ian Grant at the Honeysuckle Creek Operations Console shorly after Apollo 11 had landed on the Moon.
Detail from this photo by Hamish Lindsay during Prime Minister John Gorton’s visit.
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After Apollo 11, NASA made the decision to request the Parkes Radio Telescope be available to support further Apollo missions. Prior to Apollo 12, NASA sent additional equipment to Parkes, and Ian was given the responsibility of overseeing the delivery and installation.
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HSK 5/9/8/6-33
Apollo equipment about to attached to a trolley to lift it into the tower. Ian is at centre, facing the camera. |
In 1972, after the last lunar landing, Apollo 17, Ian left Honeysuckle to become a Project Engineer in the Department of Defence. There he was involved in the design, construction and testing of the Barra Sonabuoy – a highly successful tool for detecting submarines. He later become the project's production manager, but – after almost six years in that position – Ian was lured back to Honeysuckle Creek – this time as the Station Director.
By now, Honeysuckle was tracking unmanned spacecraft into Deep Space. Ian was Station Director from 1978 until the station closed in 1981.
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Ian Grant, during his time as Station Director at Honeysuckle.
Photo courtesy Ian Grant.
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But Ian’s work in space was by no means over. After a short time helping out at Tidbinbilla, he was appointed as Station Director of the Orroral Valley Tracking Station, which supported all sorts of scientific satellites – and also the early Space Shuttle flights.
When NASA closed that station in 1985, Ian organised for the 26 metre antenna to go to the University of Tasmania, where it was gratefully received. It’s still in use today!
The next ten years of Ian’s career made excellent use of his expertise in electronics.
With the Department of Communications in Canberra, he represented Australia in international meetings to do with frequency management – and then, with the Department of Defence, he became Senior Antenna Engineer.
In that capacity, Ian and his team designed and built important satellite antennas that have been critical to Australia’s peace-time security.
Awards and honours showed that Ian was held in very high regard.
Even after he retired in 1995, Ian continued to work as a consultant engineer in satellite and radio communications.
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This TWX message from Bob Leslie announces that Ian Grant is to be the Station Director at Honeysuckle Creek from 20 February 1978, to replace Don Gray, who is going to head the Australian Landsat Station.
Click the image for a 550kb PDF file.
Copy courtesy Ian Grant, scan by Colin Mackellar.
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More to come on this page.
