Carnarvon Space & Technology Museum
The original museum was set up in the cramped circular base of the 32m OTC dish in 1989. It was officially opened by Wilson Tuckey in front of a crowd of ex-Trackers from NASA Carnarvon Tracking Station (in town to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Moon walk), ex OTC Satellite Earth Station (Carnarvon) members and local citizens. It soon lapsed as a working museum and from a lack of care and security, the loss of several historic items folowed.
Now, in 2012, a team of local citizens have acquired the temporary use of the old reccreation unit to re-establish the Space Museum. It is expected tha Shire Council will make the OTC administrative and logistics buildings available, early in 2013, to establish a more extensive permanent museum facility telling the full story of Carnarvon’s two 'space' stations and their distinct roles in space and communications. See Roles of NASA and OTC stations for a brief comparison.
The temporary museum will be established in time for Carnarvon's Moon and Back Festival. It will be opened on 22 to 23 June by Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second astronaut to step on the Moon. It is intended that a full range of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo equipment will be ultimately on display after the transfer of Muchea/Coastal-Sentry memorabilia no longer featuring as part of Melville's 'Wireless Hill Museum'.
