Carnarvon Tracking Station

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Carnarvon NASA tracking station.
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Carnarvon NASA tracking station.

The Carnarvon Tracking Station in Western Australia was a tracking station used by NASA. It was built in 1963 for the Gemini program, the second step for NASA's plan to put a human on the Moon.

It replaced the Muchea Tracking Station and used some of the equipment from Project Mercury.

After the conclusion of the Gemini program, Carnarvon Tracking Station provided extensive support for the Project Apollo missions to the Moon. By reason of Carnarvon's unique geographical position it was used to uplink the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) command to the Apollo spacecrafts. It was subsequently used to support the Skylab space station.

The station was closed in 1974. The main building was then used by Radio Australia who were looking for a home after Cyclone Tracy put their Darwin installation out of commission. They closed this facility in June 1996. All Tracking Station equipment was removed and/or buried and all buildings, with the exception of one small one now used by Telstra, were razed. Only the foundations of what is an historical site remain.

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