Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111460
historyfocus It was a good call. Almost six minutes after Honeysuckle Creek had relayed Armstrong's first steps, Houston switched over to Parkes and the radio telescope provided the clearest images yet of the lunar surface. Lost tapes: the mission The original television signal beamed from the moon and displayed on the tracking stations' monitors prior to being transmitted to televisions across the globe was of a higher quality than the converted video that was broadcast. John Sarkissian, an operations scientist at CSIRO Parkes Observatory since 1996, learnt about these superior recordings while determining the correct sequence switch of the broadcast between stations. After looking for several years, Sarkissian led an international team to continue the search for the original high-quality console tape recordings of the lunar landing. He discovered the tapes were only ever intended for backup purposes and reluctantly concluded they had most likely been erased. In the absence of these high-quality tapes, the best scan-converted videos were restored. Excitingly, these were compiled with newly discovered footage of Armstrong descending the lunar module ladder. All of this footage was digitally restored and released on DVD shortly after the 40th anniversary celebrations in 2009. It is considered to be the most complete video document of the Apollo 11 moonwalk. In August 2011, one of these restored archival sets was sent to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex in Tidbinbilla, where Armstrong handed it over to CSIRO, acknowledging Australia's "contribution to space exploration and space communication history". It was Armstrong's final trip to Australia, as he died on August 25, 2012. "Our director, John Bolton, was usually one for going by the book, but I think he realised the momentousness of the occasion, so we pressed on." Apollo 11 Tape Search Team members Sarkissian and Colin Mackellar (a space historian), along with Lindsay, met Armstrong when he paid a personal tribute to the Aussie personnel who assisted him during the Apollo 11 mission. "He never sought the limelight or traded on his celebrity," Sarkissian reflects. "This humility is what gave him such authority and respect from his peers and the public alike." "I think he was a rare human being that all people around the world could do well to follow," says Lindsay. "His firsthand description of leaving the earth was better than anything I've ever read and I found him reserved, gracious and dignified." "Neil was unfailingly gracious, encouraging and humble," Mackellar says. "Meeting with him was a bit like meeting with an old friend – relaxed and low-key. It's hard to imagine someone else wearing the mantle of fame and greatness with as much dignity as Armstrong." For more information about Honeysuckle Creek and CSIRO Parkes Observatory visit www.honeysucklecreek.net or www.csiro.au/science/Apollo-11-and-Parkes-telescope. The DVD of the restored Apollo 11 video can be purchased at www.apollo11video.com or www.apollo11tv.com. 80 Above and left: Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station (now dismantled) in the pioneering days of space exploration; Bryan Sullivan and Ron Hicks in contact with Apollo 7 mission control from the station.