July. August 11T
HOSE OF US
oldenough
to remem-
ber the first Moon
landing in 1969
undoubtedly
maintain a special
fascination for the
historic event.
It was arguably
the first truly global moment and
what made it so were the pictures of
Neil Armstrong climbing off that last
rung of the ladder and setting foot on
the Moon before uttering those
unforgettable words. It was seen at the
same time everywhere in the world
that had access to television at that
time of day. It was a great step forward
for all humanity, transcending even the
Cold War space race that gave it such
impetus – at least to those of us too
young to understand such things and
still young enough to be transfixed by
breathtaking feats of human endeavour.
Those first few minutes of black-and-
white footage that briefly united the
world were visible thanks to the
brilliance of a small space tracking
station outside Canberra at
Honeysuckle Creek.
The role played by Honeysuckle
Creek in the moon-walk broadcast has
been overshadowed by the popular
movie The Dish that told the story of
the later part of the moon walk when
the much bigger Parkes radio telescope
came online and relayed the rest of the
transmission. In this issue, and on the
50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon
shot, writer Andrew Tink sets the record
straight at last through his compelling
story of the clever Aussies who made
that critical first broadcast possible and
of their remarkable leader, the late Tom
Reid, a man with whom Andrew had a
special personal connection.
An event that’s more likely to divide
Australians is the closure of the Uluru
climb. Sam Duncan gets to grips with
all points of view in this hot debate
and looks at the many other, and safer,
ways to experience this most iconic
Australian landscape and its unique
Anangu culture.
We’re thrilled to announce the
recent launch of our already popular
new podcast service, Australia Talking.
Many of the faces and voices you
know from the magazine will spring to
life in our weekly podcasts through
conversations with people such as
Terri Irwin, Valerie Taylor and
Tim Flannery among many other
explorers, adventurers and conserva-
tionists. The free podcast went straight
to number one in its category on the
iTunes chart. See what all the fuss is
p g.Putting the record straight
With a legal and political back-
ground, writing about how
Canberra’s Honeysuckle Creek
tracking station brought live TV
pictures of Neil Armstrong’s first
step on the Moon to a global
audience wasn’t easy for Andrew
Tink. (Andrew’s a former shadow
attorney-general and shadow
leader of the NSW Parliament.)
“The technical aspects
seemed daunting. But I’d come
to know a little of Honeysuckle’s
story and that of its director,
Tom Reid, when I dated his
daughter, Marg, during the early
1970s,” Andrew says. “Many
years later, after watching
The Dish, which placed all the
action at the Parkes radio
telescope, I became sufficiently
fired up to tell what really
happened,” says Andrew,
explaining the genesis of his book
Honeysuckle Creek: The Story of
Tom Reid, a Little Dish and Neil
Armstrong’s First Step.
To lighten the technical side,
Andrew decided to include the
story of Tom Reid’s amazing life
and his own time with Marg Reid.
“So I gingerly sounded out my
wife, Kerry, as well as Marg and
the rest of her family. And after I
promised to circulate all drafts,
everyone came on board,”
Andrew says. Tom Reid died in
2010, but the surviving space
trackers, now in their 80s, were
as sharp as ever and Andrew’s
main problem was getting them
to slow down and explain their
technical jargon in language we
could all understand. Andrew drew
on his research for that book to
write our exclusive insight into
the 50th anniversary of the
Apollo 11 mission (page 54).Notes from
the field
Presenting Partner/ Conservationist of the Year
Adventurer of the Year
Spirit of Adventure Young Adventurer of the Year2019 A G
S G A N S From the Editor-in-chief
about on page 25 and tune in now.