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on his first pass over the West
Australian coast. A small plaque has been installed on the spot occupied by the Communications Technician's console which reads: "This plaque is to mark the spot where an Australian first spoke to a space traveller".
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201:, South Australia. These stations were managed and operated by the Weapons Research Establishment of the Australian Department of Supply on behalf of NASA.
220:, it was also selected to have a command facility. Information about the range, bearing and elevation of the spacecraft was automatically relayed to the
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Muchea
Communications Technician Gerry O'Connor became the first Australian to speak with an astronaut on 20 February 1962, when he contacted
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sites around the world used throughout the project. The only other
Australian site was Station No. 9, the
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Muchea was established in 1960, and became operational in March 1961. It was
Station No. 8 of the 14
471:. Weapons Research Establishment, Department of Supply, Australian Defence Scientific Service. 1962.
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Muchea was closed in
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were sent to Muchea. The Senior Flight
Controller, usually another astronaut, acted as
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radar operating between 2700 and 2900 MHz. This was an upgraded version of the
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projects. Although the Muchea
Tracking Station no longer exists, the Shire of
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During each mission a NASA team consisting of two flight controllers and a
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Muchea was equipped with a "VERy LOng Range
Tracking" (VERLORT)
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Weapons
Research Establishment, Australian Department of Supply
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The following missions were supported by the Muchea
Station:
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272:has erected a small display about its history.
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1183:(non-NASA project inspired by Project Mercury)
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8:
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465:Muchea tracking station for Project Mercury
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169:, about 60 km (37 mi) north of
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568:Muchea Tracking Station tribute website
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1363:1964 disestablishments in Australia
1338:Earth stations in Western Australia
71:Location of Muchea Tracking Station
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1006:McDonnell Aircraft Corporation
509:"Tracking Stations Down Under"
195:Island Lagoon Tracking Station
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1166:Manned Space Flight Network
222:Goddard Space Flight Center
191:Manned Space Flight Network
31:Manned Space Flight Network
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258:Carnarvon Tracking Station
159:Earth station in Australia
148:March 1961 – February 1964
101:31.6034000°S 115.9305000°E
16:Earth station in Australia
540:"Muchea Tracking Station"
538:Mackellar, Colin (2013).
298:Senior Flight Controller
45:
39:Muchea, Western Australia
36:
28:
437:List of radio telescopes
106:-31.6034000; 115.9305000
1084:Wallops Flight Facility
1024:North American Aviation
646:Mercury program capsule
155:Muchea Tracking Station
65:Muchea Tracking Station
24:Muchea Tracking Station
1099:Mercury Control Center
647:
515:. 2011. Archived from
1147:(rival in space race)
645:
1176:Astronaut Wives Club
544:honeysucklecreek.net
482:Dench, Paul (2011).
237:capsule communicator
1124:(successor program)
1026:(Little Joe rocket)
167:Shire of Chittering
97: /
1073:and Control Center
897:In order of flight
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488:carnarvonspace.com
132:Controlled by
1209:Western Australia
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1171:Mercury spacesuit
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1020:(Redstone rocket)
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519:on 14 August 2013
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161:located close to
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1108:Related programs
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623:Space Task Group
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347:20 February 1962
324:29 November 1961
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127:Site information
121:Tracking station
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989:Mercury-Jupiter
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921:Scott Carpenter
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840:Flown non-human
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562:External links
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410:15–16 May 1963
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92:115°55′49.80″E
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935:Did not fly:
934:
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914:Earth orbit:
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399:Wally Schirra
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364:Gordon Cooper
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341:Wally Schirra
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89:31°36′12.24″S
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44:
40:
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32:
27:
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19:
1293:Solar System
1071:Launch sites
1008:(spacecraft)
955:(space suit)
953:Navy Mark IV
937:Deke Slayton
905:Alan Shepard
771:Little Joe 5
731:Little Joe 1
714:Freedom 7 II
713:
705:
698:
691:
685:Friendship 7
684:
676:
669:
633:Space flight
547:. Retrieved
543:
533:
521:. Retrieved
517:the original
512:
503:
491:. Retrieved
487:
477:
464:
424:Chuck Lewis
385:Deke Slayton
279:
255:
249:Friendship 7
247:
241:
230:
203:
188:
154:
153:
140:Site history
18:
1281:Outer space
1269:Spaceflight
999:Contractors
967:Subprograms
910:Gus Grissom
761:Beach Abort
711:Cancelled:
370:24 May 1962
226:teleprinter
145:In use
104: /
80:Coordinates
1327:Categories
1181:Mercury 13
1063:(proposed)
1056:Little Joe
991:(canceled)
916:John Glenn
903:Suborbit:
874:Astronauts
857:Suborbit:
667:Suborbit:
628:Space race
443:References
356:John Glenn
270:Chittering
244:John Glenn
239:(CAPCOM).
1305:Education
1245:Astronomy
1221:Australia
946:Equipment
736:Big Joe 1
670:Freedom 7
549:24 August
523:24 August
493:23 August
214:antipodes
1046:Redstone
1018:Chrysler
853:Miss Sam
724:Uncrewed
692:Aurora 7
654:Missions
431:See also
311:Unmanned
276:Missions
260:for the
165:in the
29:Part of
1317:Science
1233:Physics
1195:Portals
1159:Related
1061:Jupiter
1034:Rockets
1012:Convair
881:General
706:Faith 7
699:Sigma 7
611:General
289:Mission
246:aboard
210:SCR-584
199:Woomera
185:History
157:was an
1145:Vostok
1138:Soviet
1128:Apollo
1122:Gemini
661:Crewed
295:Orbits
266:Apollo
262:Gemini
206:S band
163:Muchea
1257:Stars
1041:Atlas
811:LJ-5B
801:MR-BD
796:LJ-5A
781:MR-1A
756:LJ-1B
746:LJ-1A
469:(PDF)
171:Perth
865:Enos
826:MA-5
821:MS-1
816:MA-4
806:MA-3
791:MA-2
786:MR-2
776:MR-1
766:MA-1
751:LJ-2
741:LJ-6
618:NASA
551:2013
525:2013
495:2013
333:Enos
292:Crew
286:Date
264:and
175:NASA
117:Type
859:Ham
848:Sam
414:MA9
395:MA8
374:MA7
351:MA6
328:MA5
307:MA4
224:by
216:of
197:at
177:'s
1329::
1115:US
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486:.
451:^
421:22
228:.
181:.
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596:e
589:t
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527:.
497:.
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381:3
360:3
337:2
314:1
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
