On 21 July 1999, astronaut Dr Jim Reilly, was the guest of honour at the Observatory's 30th anniversary celebrations of the Apollo 11 mission. During the celebration, Jim unveiled a plaque commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Parkes Observatory's reception of the Apollo 11 TV. He was also presented with a gift of a lapel pin as a momento of his visit. Two years later, in July 2001, Jim flew his next space mission aboard the STS-104 mission on Space Shuttle Atlantis. During the mission, he carried with him the small lapel pin. On Wednesday, 15 August, Jim Reilly returned to Parkes to present Dr John Reynolds, the Officer-in-Charge, the lapel pin as a momento of his flight. Jim's visit was made possible by Young Astronauts Australia and Distance Education, NSW.

Click on images to see the full-size versions

Jim presented Dr John Reynolds the lapel pin and a certificate signed by the crew of STS-104.

Dr Phil Edwards, the Officer-in-Charge of the ATNF's Narrabri Observatory, was also present to greet Jim.
The Narrabri Observatory is currently engaged in providing tracking support for NASA deep space missions.

Jim's visit was made possible by the efforts of Brian Robson, Coordinator, Young Astronauts Australia and David Foley, Manager of Distance Education NSW, Technology Infrastructure Unit.
L-R: Brian Robson, Dr Phil Edwards, Dr Jim Reilly, Dr John Reynolds and David Foley.

Jim viewed the plaque he unveiled during the Apollo 11 30th anniversary celebrations on 21 July 1999.

Jim and his party were given a tour of the Dish where they met three visiting astronomers.
Bottom right image L-R: Dr Willem van Straten, Dr Roy Smits, Dr Jim Reilly, Ralph Eatough and Dr John Reynolds.

It was then up onto the azimuth track for a closer inspection of the mechanical operation of the dish.

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Dr Jim Reilly is a veteran of three space flights

STS-89 (1998), STS-104 (2001) and STS-117 (2007).

His last mission, STS-117, was less than two months before his visit to Parkes in June 2007.
During the mission, Jim performed two EVA's to install a new truss segment and unfold a new set of solar arrays on the International Space Station.

Below are some highlights of Jim's STS-117 mission.

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Enquiries: John Sarkissian