The nervecentre for the televised moon landing. NASA operated Honeysuckle Creek in the Australian Capital Territory is renowned as the tracking station which received and relayed to the world the first televised footage of astronaut Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon on 21 July 1969. Apart from television pictures, Honeysuckle Creek and Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex (Tidbinbilla) had communication and telemetry contact with the Eagle Lunar and Columbia Command modules. The now de-commissioned Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station.
The Dish made Parkes famous, but the Moon landing vision actually came from Honeysuckle Creek Right place, right time, right angle So why did Honeysuckle Creek end up playing such a pivotal role? Photo: The Dish tells the story of the workers at the Parkes radio telescope. (Supplied) "It really came down to Honeysuckle being in the right place at the right time with the Moon in the right position to be able to receive those signals," Glen Nagle from the CSIRO said. "At the time when Neil was coming down the ladder the Moon wasn't high enough … so Parkes weren't getting a clean signal from the Moon." Being slightly further east, slightly higher in elevation and slightly smaller meant the Honeysuckle dish could angle itself better to receive the pictures sent back by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Mr Nagle said because of the timing, another radio telescope in California at Goldstone was also receiving images, but human error and an upside down picture meant NASA turned to Honeysuckle Creek instead.
A Tribute to the men and women of Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, Canberra, Australia Most of the Honeysuckle Creek team for Apollo 11. Photo by Hamish Lindsay. Other photos here.
The forgotten story of Honeysuckle Creek and the Apollo 11 moon landing Ed Von Renouard sits at the video console at the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station. Picture: Hamish Lindsay and Colin Mackellar. "If it wasn't for an Australian television technician Ed Von Renouard, sitting at the slow scan converter at Honeysuckle, the pictures of Neil Armstrong's first steps would have been upside down, with the moon's surface at the top of the screen and the black space at the bottom." "It was Von Renouard's quick thinking that changed "an indecipherable puzzle of stark blocks of black at the bottom and grey at the top" to the famous pictures broadcast around the world." "Once that switch was flicked, "all of a sudden it all made sense, and presently Armstrong's leg came down," Von Renouard said in Andrew Tink's book Honeysuckle Creek: The story of Tom Reid, a little dish and Neil Armstrong's first step."
@Joe Riley you pipped me at the post re follow up posts.With Australia's rich spacial history it surprises me that we have not advanced a great deal since those heady moon landing days. We do have this tho so all is not lost. The Australian Space Agency is the public service agency of Australia responsible for the development of Australia's space industry, coordinating domestic activities, identifying opportunities and facilitating international space engagement. There was talk a decade ago of building a Space Port up on Cape York Peninsula but there was a change of government so nothing came of it.
Speaking of coins @Joe Riley cast your peepers on this beauty. The world’s biggest, heaviest gold coin, which was crafted by the Perth Mint, has been delivered on loan to the New York Stock Exchange to promote physical Australian gold being made available to US investors. The colossal one tonne gold coin is 99.99 per cent pure gold and measures 80cm wide and 13cm deep.
@Craig Swanson This information has been a revelation to me. I have never heard this of this Australian connection to the Moon landing before. Has it been hushed up on purpose? Thanks for the enlightenment! I apologize for pipping you at the post.....I just got caught up in it!
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07...g-footage-sent-via-honeysuckle-creek/11273724 Joe check out the restored footage of the moon landing inset. A footnote to the historic day. I was just out of school and was inteviewed by our Nine Network while watching the landing from a electronics shop window in my lunch hour. I was so nervous I tripped over my words when the journo asked me about what I was watching. My mates ribbed me unmercilessly after seeing my interview on the nitely news.
Not a problem Joe. We are kinda proud that the world saw Armstrong make that "one giant leap for mankind" from vision supplied by our scientists. As it was a NASA operation no doubt there were American scientists involved too.
It was worth $A50 million when it was cast in 2012 but its value has risen to more than $A60 million given the soaring price of the precious metal.
So I take it only the value can soar....and not the coin, itself! I guess the people who see it flip over it!
Craig, I do remember hearing them mentioning Australian tracking stations, but not in any great detail. You deserve to be proud of your Countries achievements, contributing to this great effort!