Apollo-11 44th Anniversary celebration and Reunion

Sat 20th & Sun 21st July 2013 in Canberra Australia

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Detailed Schedule at Questacon

Sat 20th

Start time Duration Activity Notes
9:30am 84 Mins Movie: The Wonder of it all See http://thewonderofitallfilm.com/ 6 astronauts candidly discuss their thoughts and feelings during their Apollo missions
11am 35 Mins Talk: The Apollo missions explained Presented by Mike Dinn who was Deputy Director in charge of Operations at Honeysuckle during Apollo-11 and other missions. Mike will explain the Mission profile and other information.
Note: All talks are scheduled for 35 mins allowing plenty of time for questions before the next Activity
12pm 95 Mins Movie: Live from the Moon See http://preview.tinyurl.com/keaf7n7  A great movie that tells the story of the Apollo TV includes interviews with Astronauts and personnel from the ground operations in USA and Australia
2pm 35 Mins Talk: Why did it happen in the ACT Presented by John Saxon who was an Operations Supervisor at Honeysuckle for all the Apollo and Skylab missions. Why were those first fuzzy pictures sent to the world from Honeysuckle?
3pm 100 Mins Movie: The Dish A fun movie filled with 60's music and nostalgia for that time. Definitely NOT a documentary!

But wait - there's more!

1. Trevor Dalziell from Geoscience Australia has built a terrific setup to show the signals recorded during and after deployment of the Seismometer during Apollo-11 moon walk! See Astronaut footsteps, hear them sweat trying to get it level, etc! Trevor will be there to explain everything. He will be set up in the Foyer outside the Japan Theatre.

2. Large displays of Apollo memorabilia much of it unique and irreplaceable... In the Foyer outside the Japan theatre.

3. The Excited Particles (Questacon's own theatre troupe) will be performing 'Moon Landing' at 11am and 1pm, and 'Guide to the Galaxy' at 12pm and 2pm. The performances are suitable for children of all ages and will take place in Flex Space !.

4. One hour of Apollo related movies will show continuously in Q-Lab

Note: Items 3 & 4 are in the part of Questacon which require entrance fees. Everything else is free entry {:-))

 Sun 21st

Start time Duration Activity Notes
10am` 35 Mins Talk: A snapshot of life at Honeysuckle Presented by Brian Sullivan and Hamish Lindsay who were senior Operations staff at Honeysuckle through all the Apollo and Skylab missions. They will present a picture of life up at the station, including some of the humorous events as well as the tension filled missions.
11am 29 Mins Movie: The vital link An early 60s NASA movie about all 3 tracking networks from the perspective of the Voice control operations near Washington D.C.
12pm 70 Mins Talk and Movie: Missing tapes and Fuzzy pictures Presented by Colin Mackellar. Colin is an Apollo enthusiast extraordinaire. He runs the www.honeysucklecreek.net web site and much much more. Colin will talk about the search for the missing tapes and the restoration of the whole Apollo-11 moon walk. The talk will culminate with part of the moon walk restored footage synchronised to the second - as it occurred 44 years ago exactly. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!
2pm 35 Mins Talk: Canberra's vital link to current and future Space missions Presented by Glen Nagle who is the Outreach Manager at the Canberra Deep space Communications Complex at Tidbinbilla. Glen will outline many of the current and future missions at the complex.
3pm 55 Mins Movie: One small step - The Australian Story A great movie presented by Peter FitzSimmons. Made in 2009 by Freehand TV in Australia for BBC. The producers write:
"Forty years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, the one-hour documentary One Small Step: The Australian Story explores the front-line role Australian radio astronomers and technicians performed in bringing to the world a 'giant leap for mankind'. On July 20th 1969, Australia had just twelve and a half million inhabitants and was known more for its kangaroos than its space program. But the moment Neil Armstrong planted the first human footstep on the moon all that changed.
With host Peter FitzSimons, we meet some of the characters who were directly involved in bringing live pictures from the moon to the rest of the world, and hear about the dramas of this most remarkable day. Their stories are interwoven with snapshots of Australia from July 20th 1969 as we relive the day leading up to one of the most significant events in this country's brief history."

And yet more!

Everything noted above in items 1-4 above will be repeated on Sunday. The only difference is that there will be only three Excited Particle shows in Flex Space 1. 'Moon Landing' at 11am and 1pm, and  'Guide to the Galaxy' at 12pm.

Enjoy! Hope to see you there!

John Saxon 6 Jul 2013