Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (Honeysuckle Creek) was a
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
Earth station in Australia near
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, and was instrumental to the
Apollo Program. The station was opened in 1967 and closed in 1981.
History
Honeysuckle Creek – with a 26m dish (now relocated and decommissioned) – is renowned as the station which received and relayed to the world the first televised footage of
astronaut Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon on 20 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. Much of this was dramatized as involving
Parkes Observatory (Parkes) in the 2000 Australian film ''
The Dish
''The Dish'' is a 2000 Australian historical comedy-drama film that tells the story of the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying live television of humanity's first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It was the top-grossing ...
''. In fact, Parkes received only the landing footage. Six hours later, the first steps on the Moon were transmitted from Honeysuckle Creek. Although the Parkes antenna was more powerful, the angle of its dish – at a lowermost pitch of 30-degrees and buffeted by wind gusts up to 100 km/h – was not in line to receive signals during the first seven minutes of the Moon Walk.
Honeysuckle Creek signals were sent direct to
OTC Sydney via Williamdale and Red Hill (Canberra). Working for NASA, Charlie Goodman selected the audiovisual feeds from Honeysuckle Creek and Parkes for worldwide broadcasts.
The Honeysuckle Creek and Tidbinbilla antennas were built and run by NASA, but staffed by Australians. It was the policy of the Australian Government that the director had to be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia. When Apollo missions ended in 1972, Honeysuckle Creek was redirected to the new
Skylab
Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...
program. As well, it was used for experiments with
Apollo scientific stations placed on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
by
astronauts
An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
.
At the end of the
Skylab
Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...
program in 1974, Honeysuckle Creek was connected to the Deep Space Network with the designation Deep Space Station 44. Honeysuckle Creek closed in December 1981. The 26m antenna was relocated nearby to the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex at
Tidbinbilla, and redesignated Deep Space Station 46. The Antenna was decommissioned in late 2009. In May 2010, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics declared the antenna a Historical Aerospace Site. The antenna remains in perpetuity as a historical site at Tidbinbilla.
Today, at Honeysuckle Creek, the concrete foundation is the only remnant of the tracking station. An outdoor display was added in 2001. Honeysuckle Creek is considered the
geographical centre
In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. I ...
of the
Australian Capital Territory
The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
.
Climate
The climate of Honeysuckle Creek, as to be expected of its much greater elevation, is significantly cooler than that of Canberra. Notwithstanding, its maximum temperatures are warm relative to elevation, due to the fact that it still lay on the
leeward
Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference ...
(eastern) side of the
Brindabella Range
The Brindabella Range, commonly called The Brindabellas or The Brindies, is a mountain range located in Australia, on a state and territory border of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The range rises to the west of C ...
.
Annually, it receives 14.4 snowy days on average.
Gallery
File:ABC Apollo 11.ogv, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
news report on the role of the Parkes radio telescope Parkes may refer to:
* Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation
Named for Henry Parkes
* Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town
* Parkes Observatory, a radi ...
and the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, a week before the Moon landing
File:Hsk letter.jpg, Copy of telex sent to Director of Honeysuckle Creek tracking station
File:Apollo Road in Tennent, ACT.jpg, Apollo Road – The road to Honeysuckle Creek
See also
*
Apollo 11 missing tapes
*
Carnarvon Tracking Station
*
Orroral Valley Tracking Station
The Orroral Valley tracking station, was Earth station in Australia, supported Earth-orbiting satellites, as part of NASA's Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN). It was located approximately 50 km south of Canberra, ...
*
OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon
The OTC Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon, an Earth station in Australia, was established to meet the need for more reliable and higher quality communications for the Apollo program. NASA contracted Australia's Overseas Telecommunications Com ...
*
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex (CDSCC) is a satellite communication station, part of the Deep Space Network of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), located at Tidbinbilla in the Australian Capital Territory. Opened in 1 ...
*
History of the Deep Space Network
The forerunner of the Deep Space Network was established in January 1958, when JPL, then under contract to the U.S. Army, deployed portable radio tracking stations in Nigeria, Singapore, and California to receive telemetry and plot the orbit of ...
*
Andrew Tink's 2018 book: ''Honeysuckle Creek: the story of Tom Reid, a little dish and Neil Armstrong’s first step''
Tom Reid was the Director of Honeysuckle between 1967 and 1970 and in particular on 20–21 July 1969 during Neil Armstrong's moon walk.
References
{{Reflist
External links
A Tribute to Honeysuckle Creek Tracking StationWebsite
Apollo program facilities
NASA facilities in Australia
NASA radio communications and spacecraft tracking facilities
Earth stations in the Australian Capital Territory
1981 disestablishments in Australia
1967 establishments in Australia
Tourist attractions in the Australian Capital Territory
Articles containing video clips