The Island Lagoon Tracking Station (Deep Space Station 41), an Earth station in Australia, was the first deep space station to be established outside of the United States, near

Woomera, South Australia Woomera, unofficially Woomera village, is the domestic area of RAAF Base Woomera. Woomera village has always been a Defence-owned and operated facility. The village is located on the traditional lands of the Kokatha people in the Far North r ...

in November 1960. This area was chosen as the Australian government was working with the government of the United Kingdom on rocket and satellite research at the nearby

Woomera Rocket Range The RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC) is a major Australian military and civil aerospace facility and operation located in South Australia, approximately north-west of Adelaide. The WRC is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a S ...

. The tracking station began as a trailer installation, and was operational in time for the

International Geophysical Year The International Geophysical Year (IGY; ), also referred to as the third International Polar Year, was an international scientific project that lasted from 1 July 1957 to 31 December 1958. It marked the end of a long period during the Cold War w ...

of 1957. By the 1960s, the station consisted of permanent buildings and was a major unit in the network. During the American

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

program, it served as station No. 9 in NASA's

Manned Space Flight Network The Manned Space Flight Network (abbreviated MSFN, pronounced "''misfin''") was a set of tracking stations built to support the American Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab space programs. There were two other NASA space communication networks a ...

. The station was operated by the Australian Department of Supply and provided support for deep space missions until 22 December 1972. Subsequent tracking stations built by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

in Australia were: * Carnarvon, Western Australia * Muchea, Western Australia * Cooby Creek, Queensland *

Honeysuckle Creek The Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station was a NASA Earth station in Australia near Canberra. It was instrumental to the Apollo program. The station was opened in 1967 and closed in 1981. History Honeysuckle Creek with a 26 metre dish is renown ...

, ACT * Orroral Valley, ACT *

Tidbinbilla Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a protected area, on the fringe of Namadgi National Park. Tidbinbilla is a short drive from the capital city of Australia, Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory. The nature reserve consists of a large val ...

, ACT

References

Radio telescopes Earth stations in South Australia NASA facilities in Australia 1960 establishments in Australia 1972 disestablishments in Australia Far North (South Australia) {{observatory-stub

See also

References