Venture into Deep Space

With the thought of missing out on building wardrobes, Grandad immediately booked tickets for himself and Nana! First to arrive was Nana on Sunday night. The girls were very excited to wake Nana up in the morning. After a quick food shop and lunch, we picked up a friends of Ella's and headed off towards Tidbinbilla to the Canberra Space Centre.

On the drive in the large antennas were very impressive as they came into view. Turns out that only 4 of these big dishes are active. Noticeably the first dish you pass is the most famous - DSS46. Originally located at Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station between 1967 and 1981, this antenna received and relayed to the world the images of astronaut Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon in July 1969.

These antennas are an integral part of the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex and forms part of the NASA's Deep Space Network. They provide communications between deep spacecraft missions as well as radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe.

Although only small, the Canberra Space Centre provides a wealth of information on the role Australia plays in the exploration of space. We checked out various fun facts about space missions from spacecraft to food to rovers. There was a small piece of the moon which is apparently 3.8 billion years old. We also tried on an astronauts suit for size! There was a small interactive section which kept the girls entertained for a short while plus several short videos. After an hour the girls had had enough learning.

Back in the hot car, we decided to drop in at the Cotter for a quick play...or wade in the river. Thankfully no-one got too wet and it was a really nice way to finish the afternoon.