On 21 July 1969 the Parkes Radio Telescope brought
television pictures of the historic Apollo 11 moonwalk to
600 million people around the world.

This remarkable event was achieved thanks to the dedication
and skill of the CSIRO and NASA staff at the Observatory - a
collaboration that continued until the end of the manned lunar
program in December 1972.

For TV pictures, click on the following

Armstrong's first step on the Moon (through Honeysuckle Creek)
Reading of the Plaque (through Parkes)
Kangaroo hops (through Parkes)

Click on images to see larger versions

Following addresses by several VIP's (Dr. John Whiteoak, Asst. Dir. ATNF; Cr. Ken Keith, Deputy Mayor, Parkes Shire; Mr. Tony McGrane MP OAM; Dr. Dennis Cooper, Chief CTIP), Guest of honour, Astronaut Jim Reilly, unveilled a plaque commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Parkes telescope's reception of the Apollo 11 moonwalk TV pictures. He later met some of the former observatory staff who were actually there on the day (Ben Lam, Fox Mason, Les Fellows, Cliff Smith and Sid Horner).

Before the unveilling ceremony, Astronaut Jim Reilly, visited primary school students from five of the schools of Parkes. He presented awards to the prize winners of our Essay and Drawing competitions. Essay Comp. Winners were: 1st prize Cameron Lam, 2nd prize Eleanor Preisig, 3rd prize Elise Holman. Drawing Comp. Winners were: 1st prize Carl ten Cate, 2nd prize Alyssa Collins 3rd prize Jerome Fitspatrick. Congratulations to them all !
The theme of his address to the school students was to "... believe in your dreams."

Below are scenes in the control room on the great day itself.