Bart Bear's Blog

Last week we had a look at an exhibition about Australia in the space age. Personally, I thought that lots of stuff that should have been in the exhibition is left out. It does a good job with the early stages where the Woomera rocket range was new, testing British and American rockets. On November 29, 1967, Australia became the third country to launch a satellite into Earth orbit. The WRESAT made measurements of the upper atmosphere and weather. It made 642 orbits before it burned up on re-entry on January 10, 1968. However, there is no mention of the work in the 1980s when Australian experiments flew on the Shuttle missions, and we almost had our own telescope in orbit. I know about that because Dad was one of the Stromlo Observatory staff involved in the Starlab project. The tracking stations at Honeysuckle Creek, Orroral Valley and Tidbinbilla get a good wrap for their efforts supporting the Apollo and later space missions, but no mention is there of the fact that the vital telex communication link was actually in the very building where the exhibition is at present. I know about that because Mum's father was the boss of the communications staff involved. There is lots of stuff about the sci-fi stories and TV programs featuring Australian sites, and about space-inspired fashion, so it's worth a visit if you are interested in that stuff. The big news now is that finally Australia has its own Space Agency. It took a long while to get here, but the Australia-wide combine of industry and universities is up and running. I am a recognized supporter of the Agency, I have one of their badges to prove it.
 

Labels: Canberra, space

The week of the Apollo 11 50th anniversary was a busy one in Canberra, after all, the tracking stations near here played vital roles in the Moon landing. As well as going to as many of the exhibitions and lectures as I could talk the Oldies into taking me to, I managed to get first day copies of the stamps and coins that Australia Post and the Royal Australian Mint issued. There are 4 stamps in the set and, if you were quick enough, you could choose them in several different packages. I chose a folder with the stamps, the story and some of the technical info. There was also a folder with a commemorative medallion; had to get one of those as well (after all, Mum was paying). The Mint issued coins of the usual denominations. Only the $1 has a special imprint, the Honeysuckle Creek dish and trackers in the control room. I got a set in a special folder. These "ordinary" coins will go into circulation, but there are also special collectors coins, some of them quite expensive. Mum was not paying for any of them for me. The $5 coin is spectacular, but it sells for $195 so I guess I won't ever own one of them. So, 50 years since that historic day and the Moon still has nobody living on it, maybe due to the lack of small bears as mascots in the program.

Labels: Canberra, space

Highlight of the week was the Reunion commemorative lunch on Sunday. This was organized by a group of the people who tracked the Apollo missions from the 3 tracking stations near Canberra. The organizer was John Saxon, the guy that Mum is with in the photo. He was the Operations Supervisor actually at the controls of Honeysuckle Creek during the landing. At exactly 50 years after the landing, a copy of the original video was projected on several large screens. I think the name badges we had are the best I have ever seen and mine is safely tucked away in my "special things" box. Mum's father had a crucial role in getting the data from Apollo 11 to the world. He was the PMG supervisor in charge of keeping the communication lines between the tracking stations and the Australian overseas networks operating during the mission. Mum remembers that he was extremely busy and a bit stressed that day. Naturally, we collected a lot of souvenirs during the week. The Oldies like the shot glasses from the lunch and "christened" them with Benedictine as soon as they got home. I got a small bear sized Newton's cradle and still haven't managed to get all of the balls moving at once. Dad explained the physics to me, but I just have fun with it. The thing I am really waiting to get started on is the model kit of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. I aim to have Columbia in orbit and Eagle on the Moon's surface, it should look great.

Labels: Canberra, space

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of possibly the most historic event ever - the landing of Eagle, the Lunar lander of the Apollo 11 mission, on the Moon. Naturally, we tried to get to as many of the events leading up to this as possible. Canberra has many links to the Apollo missions. There were 3 NASA tracking stations in the valleys just west of Canberra, at Tidbinbilla, Orroral Valley and Honeysuckle Creek. The TV coverage of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Lunar surface came from Honeysuckle!!! "The Dish" at Parkes took over later on. One of the things that I did last week was to see the huge Moon globe suspended above a display and lecture room at Questacon, our national science and technology centre. You can walk around the globe and see it from several floors and it has all the features that the many Lunar missions have mapped. Another very special thing was to actually touch a tiny piece of the Moon. NASA has lent Geoscience Australia a tiny slice of polished rock collected by the Apollo 17 mission. It is the only piece in the southern hemisphere than can be touched, the other samples are too scientifically precious. Maybe I am the first small bear to touch a bit of the Moon. I have held meteorites, which also are from space, but to touch the Moon is a real high.

Labels: Canberra, space