Tidbinbilla NASA Deep Space Tracking Station

[ourkind]

Went to visit my nephew for his 4th birthday in Canberra this weekend.

The forecast was rain but I was determined to take go out and capture a nightscape regardless.

Here is what I came up with. Literally a second after taking this photo, without warning except for the big fat clouds it began to rain bucketloads. So I quickly yanked the camera and tripod and shoved it back in the car.

Light pollution, clouds and rain is not a problem for the fellas and girls working at the tracking station. As I neared the public parking area you could hear the giant mount underneath the giant dish humming while it tracked some deep space vehicle.

Thanks for looking and I hope you like it :)

[iceman]

Nice - I'd like to visit one day.

[pmrid]

Nice capture. The whole scene has a slightly ethereal quality - a bit like a scene out of Close Encounters or something similar.
Peter

[cfranks]

Lovely image and quite ethereal as Peter said. It reminds me of when I was Pres. of the Alice Springs Astronomical Society in '75, one of our members submitted a bid for an 80' dish being scrapped at Tidbinbilla! The first we knew about it was a polite letter from them asking us to withdraw our bid.!! :eyepop:

[ourkind]

Thank you very much Mike :) I highly recommend a visit, their visitors centre is exceptional :thumbsup: a direct quote from their site...

"you can see a piece of the Moon that's over 3.8 billion years old, check out the latest images from across the Solar System and beyond, check out spacecraft models, plus flown space hardware and memorabilia."

http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/visitorcentre.html



Thank you very much Peter :) that's exactly what it felt like, that was one of my favourite movies as a child. I was there at about 2am and there was not a soul in sight except for a few cows. After this photograph I drove to the public parking area to get a closer look but it was short lived because a few moment later 'security' switched on the flood lights. I waited a couple minutes to see if they'd come out to speak with me but they didn't, I think the flood lights are enough of a deterrant for anyone thinking of climbing a fence or getting up to no good. It was still raining pretty heavy then so I left...



Thank you very much :) Just driving out there day or night and catching that first glimpe of the giant 70m dish is really impresive, expecially as its nestled away in the hills of Tedbinbilla Park and its the last thing you'd expect to find after dirving through kilometres of bush and farmland.

[Larryp]

Great shot, Carlos!

[alistairsam]

Very Nice capture.
Looks like a scene out of X-Files.
and the name "Deep Space Tracking" . Cool.
Are visitors allowed?

[Ross G]

A great looking photo Carlos.

Ross.

[ourkind]

Thank you very much Laurie :)



Thank you very much Alistairsam :)

Yes you can and I highly recommend a visit, their visitors centre is exceptional :thumbsup: I've been there a few times, they actually have a monitor you can look at to see what vehicle is being tracked at that moment, PLUS you can stand less than 50cm away from a piece of the moon brought back to earth by one of the Apolo Missions!!! A direct quote from their site...

"you can see a piece of the Moon that's over 3.8 billion years old, check out the latest images from across the Solar System and beyond, check out spacecraft models, plus flown space hardware and memorabilia."

http://www.cdscc.nasa.gov/Pages/visitorcentre.html



Thank you very much Ross :)