The Apollo lunar mission has always been hailed by the United States as one of its greatest achievements. But not only the United States but the rest of the world played a crucial role in this mission. The first sightings of man landing on the moon were received and seen in Australia.
The first sightings of that historic human footprint were made at the Honeysuckle Creek tracking station near Canberra, Australia. That tracking station specially set up for the Apollo mission no longer exists. Tracking stations were set up at three locations on Earth at that time to ensure the rapid safety of travelers during the voyage to the moon. It was in Goldstone, California, in Madrid, Spain, and in Australia.
The Australian engineers who took part in the Apollo mission at the time recall that there were actually three stations in Australia set up to communicate the Apollo mission. In addition to Honeysuckle Creek, the Orol Valley Tracking Station and the Cornwall Tracking Station were also active. These stations were set up to receive radio signals and images. But later came the need to capture footage of the lunar mission as well.
A section of NASA scientists were opposed to filming the images and sending them back to Earth. But it was the insistence of NASA’s Director of Flight Operations in Houston, Chris Kraft, that the historical footage was made public on TV. He argued that Americans who paid for it also had the right to see man land on the moon.
The gruesome scenes of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon later became the most watched TV show in the world. Stations at Goldstone, Parks and Honeysuckle were ready to receive the footage. Americans eagerly waited in GondStone, California, but Australia was the first to get the video. The main reason for this was that Armstrong and Bus Aldrin had already decided to land on the moon. With this, the preparations for the live broadcast had to be done quickly. The engineers at Honeysuckle Creek in Australia were relatively experienced. This is what helped them. As a result, Australians were the first to see the first man to land on the moon on TV. Seconds later, the footage reached the United States.
Nine minutes later, the same scene arrived at Parks Station in New South Wales, Australia. For two and a half hours that day, the world saw live footage of man landing on the moon on TV. Along with the footage, voice messages from the beginning to the end of the lunar mission also reached stations, including Goldstone.
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