The Dish
Uploaded: January 04, 2011 23:17:46
Parkes Radio Telescope, Parkes NSW Australia.
This radio telescope was instrumental for the landing of the lunar module in 1969.
A recent Australian movie called The Dish documents this time with some humour. One of my favourite movies.
I have been away down in Victoria and this was taken on the drive back yesterday.
Happy New Year to all!!!
Exif: F Number: 8, Exposure Bias Value: 0.00, ExposureTime: 1/640 seconds, Flash: did not fire, compulsory flash mode, ISO: 200, White balance: Auto white balance, FocalLength: 18.00 mm, Model: Canon EOS 450D
Tiia Vissak January 05, 2011
great colors, details & framing! #1341378Renee Doyle January 05, 2011
Happy New Year to you too Paul ..... were they playing cricket :-) ..... it is a great movie and this is a wonderful capture!!!! Travel safe! #9143604Michelle Alton January 05, 2011
Beautifully captured, Paul. It looks so top heavy to me...like a monster mouth! #9143681Tammy M. Anderson January 05, 2011
Excellent comp. and capture, Paul. Great colors. #9143694Carolyn M. Fletcher January 05, 2011
Those things are huge.. makes you wonder why they don't fall over. #9143788John Connolly January 05, 2011
A wonderful capture of The Dish, Paul! I must drag my DVD of the movie out and have another look at it, it is one of my favorite movies also! #9144847Brett Dolsen January 06, 2011
Wonderfull capture of this great location Paul!!Love the movie and love your capture! #9145627Kate Jackson January 10, 2011
Very interesting shots Paul. I like this one which show it in its location. It looks so top heavy on top of the circular building at the bottom. But if it's been there since 1969 I guess it must be pretty secure!! #9153119Carolyn J. Connolly January 14, 2011
I really like all your superb captures of 'the dish', Paul...and the sky is gorgeous, too!! Noteworthy is the fact that this radio telescope was originally opened in October 1961!! :o)It's hard to believe that the movie 'The Dish' was actually released over 10 years ago now, too!! Doesn't time fly when you're having fun!! ;o)
It's most interesting to visit this site in Parkes!! A few years back Phil and I also visited the site of the now long since (1967-1981) decommissioned Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, just outside of Canberra!! :o)
It was actually "the REAL Dish(!). Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station was an important link in early space missions, including the first footsteps on the Moon."
Refer: http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/
Also see: http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/
"Its most noted achievement was providing the world with the first pictures of the Apollo 11 Moonwalk on Monday, July 21, 1969. Apart from the television pictures they provided, Honeysuckle Creek and Tidbinbilla had voice and telemetry contact with the lunar and command modules. Much of this was dramatized in the 2000 Australian film The Dish" (although Honeysuckle didn't even get a mention!! ;o/)...
After Honeysuckle was closed the actual 26 metre antenna dish was "relocated to the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex at nearby Tidbinbilla, and renamed Deep Space station 46, where it remained in use until late 2009."
Refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeysuckle_Creek_Tracking_Station
For those living in, or visiting, Oz it's really worth a visit if you're in the area, as although all the buildings have been removed a number of photographic and information board displays have been set up in front of where the different buildings once stood!! :o)
Parkes Radio Telescope is definitely worth visiting, too!! We must get out there again sometime soon!! ;o)
#9163819
Carolyn J. Connolly January 15, 2011
Additionally, Paul - this is a very interesting web page:
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/
and this page, too:
http://outreach.atnf.csiro.au/visiting/parkes/looselybased.html
It is titled, "The Dish": Fact versus Fiction — a quick comparison", and provides some very interesting info!! ;o) (See below)
"Several true things in the film:
* we did point at the Moon, and, as arranged, did take signals, and successfully, for the moonwalks
* we normally park our dish at 35km/hr. On the day of the moonwalk it was gusting 100km/hr.
* Goldstone (USA) signals did "disappear into the ground" on the day
* there is a visitors centre nearby
* staff do take "hayrides" as one means to get equipment up onto the dish
* Parkes did use an "off-axis" feed to acquire signals of the first few minutes
* the astronauts did go outside ahead of schedule
* we do have a UPS and backup diesel generator
* NASA did get coordinates wrong occasionally on very early missions
* the control room set and operation of the dish was very realistic representation of 1969
Pure fictions (to make a good story)
* there was no power failure
* there was no animosity with Americans; we are accustomed to sharing expertise both ways
* the Prime Minister visited Honey Suckle Creek, not Parkes
* staff names and personas: Director, John Bolton died in 1993. Letty Bolton lives in Queensland and visits occasionally
* there are no tours of the telescope for visitors"... #9163829
Carolyn J. Connolly January 15, 2011
"Understated/overlooked aspects * the first few minutes of the televised broadcast originated from Honey Suckle Creek, near Canberra
* more NASA staff and OTC (Telecom) staff were present; it was a larger team effort
* the congratulatory telegram included a lot more players than just Parkes
* quality control and foresight at Parkes were much greater than as portrayed. The Director had actually calculated how fast for teams of men to wind the electric motors in the event of a total power failure.
* it was quite normal to scan side to side to find a source and strongest signal
* the wind kept blowing a gale during the moonwalks
* our then-Director, John G Bolton, made the decision to keep pointing in the wind. In this universe he got away with it!
* Parkes Radio Telescope is a valuable astronomical instrument, ten thousand times more sensitive than when first commissioned in 1961. No time is wasted on the dish, one the the best radio telescopes in the world.
Puzzling aspects
* Prime Ministerial ignorance (we were well known — half the construction funds were from Commonwealth Government)
* "as big as a football field." (it's big, but not that big; what footy field is that small?)
Cricket on the Dish
* It never happened. True the actors went up there for about an hour, but they were told where they could stand, what they could do, what they could throw (a tennis ball). So, it wasn't a "stunt-double" dish, it really was the Parkes dish they were standing on, but neither was what the film showed "highlights of a day's play"!" #9163830
Tammy M. Anderson February 10, 2011
Congrats on your great finalist, Paul. #9225822Emile Abbott February 10, 2011
Congratulations on a huge finalist, Paul. #9226127Tiia Vissak February 10, 2011
Congratulations! #9226464Nancy (Peaches) Harker February 10, 2011
Barbara Mason February 10, 2011
Congratulations on this superb image/finalist Paul !! #9227372Merna L. Nobile February 10, 2011
Black and White, Bright Colors, Full Frame or Cropped, it does not matter. You’re a winner! CONGRATULATIONS, Merna #9228284Evy Johansen February 10, 2011
Wonderful capture, Paul! Big congratulations on your finalist! #9229238Raymond Pauly February 10, 2011
Congratulations on your finalist, Paul. #9229673Stefania Barbier February 11, 2011
spectacular finalist, huge congrats!!! #9230934Patrick Rouzes February 11, 2011
Congratulations & good luck, Paul! Amazing finalist! WTG! #9231619Ann Coates February 11, 2011
Wow, what an amazing sight. Congratulations on your fantastic finalist Paul. #9233261Sign up for an interactive online photography course to get critiques on your photos.
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