The Tracking Network

The words

1. ARIA

   Apollo Range Instrumentation Aircraft.

   ARIA aircraft could relay astronaut voices and record spacecraft measurements over ocean areas without ground stations. NASA also assigned them to reentry support after radio blackout.

   Did you know?

   The aircraft’s large, rounded nose housed a dish antenna. Its unusual shape came from the communications equipment needed to follow the spacecraft.

   NASA press kit, p. 179 · NASA: Apollo 11 network press kit (opens a new tab)

2. Ascension

   The station on Ascension Island helped cover Apollo’s Atlantic launch path. It formed one link in a chain of ground stations, ships and aircraft.

   NASA data book, vol. II, p. 554 · NASA: Apollo tracking network history (opens a new tab)

3. Bermuda

   Bermuda was a prime station along Apollo’s launch path. Its equipment helped the network follow spacecraft during the early stages of a mission.

   NASA data book, vol. II, p. 554 · NASA: Apollo tracking network history (opens a new tab)

4. Canary Islands

   NASA’s network history lists Grand Canary among Apollo’s primary launch-path stations. The Canary Islands station helped extend the tracking chain across the Atlantic.

   NASA data book, vol. II, p. 554 · NASA: Apollo tracking network history (opens a new tab)

5. Carnarvon

   Carnarvon was an Australian station in Apollo’s tracking network. It and the Canberra station received backup support from the Deep Space Network installation at Tidbinbilla.

   NASA data book, vol. II, p. 554 · NASA: Apollo tracking network history (opens a new tab)

6. Goldstone

   Goldstone, California, helped receive Apollo 11’s lunar television in 1969. Honeysuckle Creek and Parkes in Australia also took part in receiving pictures from the Moon’s surface.

   NASA: Honeysuckle Creek’s antenna (opens a new tab)

7. Guaymas

   Guaymas, Mexico, was one of Apollo’s primary tracking stations. NASA’s network history placed it near the end of the worldwide chain, before Corpus Christi.

   NASA data book, vol. II, p. 554 · NASA: Apollo tracking network history (opens a new tab)

8. Handover

   As Earth turned, one station handed communications to another coming into view. This preserved coverage from Earth, but radio contact still stopped when the spacecraft passed behind the Moon.

   NASA press kit, pp. 171, 173 · NASA: Apollo 11 network press kit (opens a new tab)

9. Honeysuckle

   Honeysuckle Creek’s antenna supported Apollo’s lunar flights from Australia. It helped receive the first television pictures from the Moon’s surface in 1969, alongside Goldstone and Parkes.

   Did you know?

   After Honeysuckle Creek closed in 1981, its antenna moved to the Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex. There it received a new number, Deep Space Station 46.

   NASA: Honeysuckle Creek’s antenna (opens a new tab)

10. Intelsat

    Intelsat satellites linked distant receiving stations with network hubs on Earth. Apollo’s planned routes used these satellites to carry information from remote sites onward toward Houston.

    NASA press kit, p. 176 · NASA: Apollo 11 network press kit (opens a new tab)

11. Kauai

    Kauai’s tracking station stood in Kōkee State Park. First built for Mercury, it was adapted for Gemini and Apollo, extending the network across the Pacific.

    Did you know?

    In 1965, Neil Armstrong served at Kauai as the Gemini 3 capsule communicator. From there, he helped the crew prepare for reentry.

    NASA: Kauai’s tracking station (opens a new tab)

12. Madrid

    The Madrid area held separate antennas for different NASA networks. Fresnedillas served the Manned Space Flight Network, while Robledo de Chavela and Cebreros supported the Deep Space Network.

    NASA: the Madrid-area tracking stations (opens a new tab)

13. Tidbinbilla

    Tidbinbilla near Canberra supplied Apollo backup tracking. Its deep-space antenna gained extra Manned Space Flight Network equipment so it could help support crewed lunar missions.

    NASA: Tidbinbilla’s Apollo backup (opens a new tab)

14. Tracking Ship

    Apollo tracking ships carried antennas into ocean areas beyond land-station range. These floating stations supplied tracking, spacecraft measurements and communications during key parts of a flight.

    NASA press kit, p. 178 · NASA: Apollo 11 network press kit (opens a new tab)

15. Unified S-Band

    S-band is a range of radio frequencies.

    Apollo’s unified S-band system combined radio functions that otherwise needed separate carriers. A shared carrier reduced the space, weight and power needed aboard the spacecraft.

    NASA data book, vol. II, p. 553 · NASA: Apollo tracking network history (opens a new tab)