Key FPQ-6 Mission Activity

A full catalogue of Carnarvon FPQ-6 tracking would be a potted history of US space exploration - post Mercury. The following group examples pinpoint highlights of Carnarvon’s radar activity in order of the first track in each group.

Communications satellites

 

Echo-2, a 'rigidized' 30.5m passive communications sphere, launched on 25 January 1964 was the first object in space tracked by Carnarvon (CRO). It was followed soon after on 19 August by Syncom-3, the first truly synchronous communications satellite.

 

Three communications satellites vital to NASA’s communications with its remote tracking stations followed. Intelsat-2A failed to reach a synchronous orbit but, before it decayed, managed to relay the first few minutes of the first TV transmission from Carnarvon to England on 26 October 1966 - Down Under Comes Up Live. Intelsat-2B followed on 11 January 1967 to become Pacific-1 – CRO’s communications satellite link to the US. Intelsat-2C on 23 March 1967 became Atlantic-1.

 

SKYNET-1A, a UK military communications satellite, was successfully placed in synchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean on 22 November 1969. SKYNET-1B on 19 August 1970 failed due to a faulty apogee motor and SKYNET-2A launched in January 1974 became lost and shortly after was discovered in a lower Earth orbit by the CRO FPQ-6; an orbit from which it could not be rescued.

 

Telesat-A, a Canadian domestic communications satellite launched on 9 November 1972, failed to reach the correct orbit; nevertheless CRO FPQ-6, acquiring it a little behind schedule, was able to generate new tracking parameters to enable successful acquisitions by both Hawaii and Bermuda. The satellite subsequently established a successful synchronous orbit.

 

By mid 1997, 535 domestic communications satellites had been launched. About 50 of these were supported by CRO FPQ-6 before it ceased tracking in mid-1975.

Apollo/Saturn 

 

On 29 Jan 1964 the Saturn-V launch vehicle designed to lift Apollo for its journey to the Moon orbited the Earth from the first time and became CRO’s second track before it had even seen a Gemini spacecraft. The next Apollo mission it supported was on 5 July 1966; four orbits of Apollo-2 driven by the Saturn-IVB after separation from the Saturn-V. Fifteen Apollo missions were to follow in due course with CRO FPQ-6 supporting every viewable opportunity for manned missions; not merely the early-orbit definition period.

 

The Apollo-13 re-entry phase was the only Apollo mission for which its support bordered on critical; it had all three vehicles on view – the Command Module containing the three astronauts, and the Service Module and the Lunar Module both now jettisoned. The Lunar Module was a key concern because it held the Apollo Lunar Surface Experimental Package (ALSEP) containing 3.9 Kg of radioactive plutonium in its power generator. NASA wanted to be sure the Lunar Module was on target for a non-contaminating splashdown in deep ocean waters well away from New Zealand. Naturally the CRO FPQ-6 crew was also delighted by the safe return of the three astronauts.

Deep Space Network (DSN) support 

 

All DSN spacecraft needed to break free of Earth’s gravity onto a very particular path to be sure of reaching their destination. The FPQ-6’s position and accuracy was a vital part of the process. CRO’s track meant that the first post-insertion course correction could be sooner and more specific than it would for a less accurate tracking system.

 

CRO FPQ-6’s first productive track was three hours of data for Ranger-6, a DSN mission, on 30 January 1964. The support included the trans-lunar insertion (TLI) phase. Ranger-6 was on its way to televise photos of the Moon’s surface back to Earth. CRO followed with three more Ranger missions. Tracking of Ranger-8 on 28 July 1964 created a local distance record of 35,000 Km.

 

CRO FPQ-6 supported Pioneer-A on 16 December 1965 by tracking through its transition into a heliocentric (Sun-centred) orbit; the first of six similar DSN Pioneer missions. They measured solar wind, solar magnetic field and cosmic rays - ‘particles and fields’ - at different distances out from the Sun.

 

Surveyor-3 with Apollo-12: Image - NASA

The DSN Surveyor ‘Lunar Lander’ missions were probably the most interesting for CRO FPQ-6 at the time given their purpose to land on the Moon, take photos of the moonscape and to analyse soil samples. It mirrored the prime purpose of CRO without the astronauts.

 

Surveyor-1, the first of seven ‘Lunar Lander’ missions, was launched on 30 May 1966; and stimulated rivalries between the tracking systems at Carnarvon. FPQ-6, as usual, tracked the spacecraft through the TLI phase and on towards the Moon. The Unified S-Band (USB) system, destined to support Apollo at lunar distances, acquired the Ranger S-band signal without pointing data by slaving onto the FPQ-6 angles. There was some bitterness at FPQ-6 when Surveyor-1 went out of radar range as USB cheers sounded out on the intercom celebrating the fact that they were still locked onto the spacecraft. The pragmatic radar crew consoled themselves with the fact that it was merely the nature of USB technology rather than the skill of the USB crew.

 

As it did for previous DSN missions, CRO FPQ-6 provided support for the TLI phases of the five Lunar Orbiter missions between August 1965 and August 1966. These orbited the Moon taking highly detailed photographs of potential Apollo landing sites. When each Lunar Orbiter had finished its task it was handed over to the USB network to refine ground tracking station positional accuracy prior to the first Apollo landing.

 

No record has been found of support for the DSN Mariner missions to Mars and Venus though it is highly probable CRO FPQ-6 support was required as it was for the other DSN missions.

 

By the time Apollo-8 reached for the Moon, CRO FPQ-6 had participated in at least 19 trans-lunar/trans-planetary insertions of DSN spacecraft. Such events had become routine.

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Gemini/Agena 

 

The principle role of CRO was the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) support of the Gemini/Agena missions followed by the Apollo missions. The FPQ-6 radar combined with the MSFN systems, for the first of many times, to track the unmanned Gemini-1 on 8 April 1964. CRO nearly lost the opportunity, less than two minutes to launch, due to a lightning strike cutting its ‘sole’ communications link to the rest of the world. The PMG with the help of Lillian O’Donoghue, Postmistress of Hamelin Pool, found an alternative route along an obsolete telephone line to Hamelin Pool and then along the sheep station telegraph lines to Carnarvon Telephone Exchange. For several hours in the middle of the night, Lillian wrote down long strings of meaningless numbers (CRO pointing data) then dictated them to an operator at FPQ-6 patched through from the telephone exchange. CRO passed its debut with flying colours.

 

The first target-vehicle launch phase, Agena-6, was tense. The vehicle apparently blew up at the initiation of the first burn, but CRO radar were required to stay on watch for three hypothetical orbits in a futile attempt to spot it or fragments of its explosion. From a tracking point of view, the CRO FPQ-6 support of the Gemini/Agena series was generally uncomplicated but busy; many of the orbital changes requiring precision tracking were scheduled to take place within view of CRO. After Agena-6 was lost the unlaunched Gemini-6 was relabelled Gemini-6a and was launched on 15 December, shortly after Gemini-7 on 4 December 1965 to ensure the astronaut training program remained firmly on schedule. This gave the ground radars an exceptional workload with two manoeuvring manned spacecraft in close orbit.

 

Gemini-11’s early orbits of the penultimate Gemini/Agena mission, were virtually a rehearsal for the first lunar ascent and rendezvous planned for Apollo-11. After Agena-11’s first orbit was established as good, Gemini-11 was launched and achieved rendezvous over CRO in its first orbit and docking with the Agena before Gemini’s first orbit was complete. The prime objective completed the astronaut’s now used the Agena to boost them during orbit-26 to a then record height of 1.368.9Km over North Western Australia to give CRO a very long and satisfying pass.

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WRESAT 

 

On 29 November 1967, Australia became the fourth nation to place a satellite into orbit. WRESAT (Weapons Research Establishment Satellite) was a logical extension of the HAD program which CRO FPQ-6 had supported in 1964. It was launched from Woomera across North West Australia into a retrograde polar orbit with FPQ-6 confirming that a good orbit was achieved and CRO GRRR, as part of STADAN, collecting 43.5 minutes of data on the first orbit.

Orbiting Vehicle (OV) series 

 

US Air Force Orbiting Vehicles (OV1-20 and OV1-21) were launched on 7 august 1971 by the US Department of Defence (DoD) into retrograde polar orbits with each ejecting a low-altitude density sub-satellite: Cannonball-2 (OAR-901) and Musketball (OAR-907). The drag on these through the fringe of the Earth’s atmosphere required extra radar tracking to redefine their orbital parameters. In November 1971 CRO FPQ-6 was called upon to help, after negotiation with the Australian Government to assure them that these DoD satellites were entirely scientific in accordance with the NASA charter.

 

Good technical work by CRO led to a lasting US Air Force Network Control requirement for it to provide pointing data to their network for other satellites in the OV series. But ‘permission’ was still required for each new mission in turn.

Skylab 

 

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AE-C 

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