Recent Posts

1

The Reality of Apollo / Re: Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by TimberWolfAu on January 13, 2026, 11:35:24 PM »

I got to call in on the Darwin Aviation Museum last year. I was surprised by how 'thin' the B-52 is, I always thought it was bigger than it actually is, not to say that it's small.

2

The Reality of Apollo / Re: Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by Obviousman on January 13, 2026, 09:20:34 PM »

Oh well, if you - or any member - finds themselves in the area then I am more than happy to be a guide at the Museum.

Regarding the AWM, if you get a chance try to book a tour through the Treloar Technology Centre - it has amazing items not on display.

https://www.awm.gov.au/visit/exhibitions/bigthingsinstore

3

The Reality of Apollo / Re: Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by Dalhousie on January 13, 2026, 08:34:00 PM »

Just quickly, does anyone know if the following sites still hold Apollo items/exhibits?

- National Museum of Australia (I think it still has the Apollo 17 'goodwill' sample, but I can't see on their website that confirmed this)
- GeoScience Australia (some mentions say they have rock samples, but their website doesn't mention them)
- Questacon, they had some items at one point, but I didn't see them last time I was there.

And yes, I'll be calling them tomorrow to double check, but was wondering if there are any Canberra locals who might know? Figured, while I'm on holidays, I'll take a little road trip down to Canberra on Thursday. Planning on visiting the Deep Space Communication Centre and old Honeysuckle Creek site while I'm there. I'f you're all nice, I might post some photos too.

Canberran here....

Honeysuckle C k and Orroral valley tracking station.  Nothing left there but concrete plinths and plaques.  Nice drive though!

There is the Mt Orroral laser tracking observatory which is no tell known.  I only found out two weeks back while fire fighting in the area.  It's a bit of a hike but if you are keen, the weather is good, and you have the time, may be worth the hike. https://www.honeysucklecreek.net/other_stations/orroral/NatMap_Laser_Station.html

Tidbinbilla tracking station.  The free visitor's centre is open on Saturdays, and well worth a visit.  Evevn when closed you get nice video of the various dishes from the access road.

Geoscience Australia has a public viewing area in the foyer, and has a small but interesting collection of Mars and Moon meteorites, other meteorites, and an Apollo sample you can touch.  I wrote these up for school teachers a few years back. I can email you a copy. The mineral collection the geological time walk are also good.  There is a nice cafe too!

Questacon is expensive and they rotate their exhibits regularly.  Not sure if they have anything space related at present.  But you can buy Australian Space Agency T shirts and windcheaters in the shop without paying the entrance fee.

The Australian War Memorial has a Me-163 and possibly a V-2 on display, and is free.

National Museum I am not sure but doubt it.

When are you passing through?

4

The Reality of Apollo / Re: Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by TimberWolfAu on January 12, 2026, 08:54:25 PM »

If you are passing through Nowra and would like a tour of the Fleet Air Arm Museum...

So very tempting but too far out of my way I'm afraid. I really only have a single day to make this trip (aligning with other people as the better half doesn't want me taking the trip on my own), and I'm already looking at a round trip of 9 hours.

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The Reality of Apollo / Re: Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by Obviousman on January 12, 2026, 04:20:43 PM »

If you are passing through Nowra and would like a tour of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, please let me know. No space-related items that I recall but heaps of aviation! (Something from Paul Scully-Power maybe? He has a strong association with the FAA & Navy)

6

The Reality of Apollo / Re: Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by Peter B on January 12, 2026, 03:52:12 PM »

Just quickly, does anyone know if the following sites still hold Apollo items/exhibits?

- National Museum of Australia (I think it still has the Apollo 17 'goodwill' sample, but I can't see on their website that confirmed this)
- GeoScience Australia (some mentions say they have rock samples, but their website doesn't mention them)
- Questacon, they had some items at one point, but I didn't see them last time I was there.

How embarrassing, that I'm a local and I have no firm idea about any of these. I've never seen the A17 goodwill sample when I've been to the NMA. I can check with a relative about GA. And I don't remember seeing anything relevant at Questacon.

Supposedly, the National Archives of Australia has the A11 goodwill sample, but I don't remember seeing that on display either. However, the NAA is only about a kilometre from Questacon, and well worth a visit in its own right.

And yes, I'll be calling them tomorrow to double check, but was wondering if there are any Canberra locals who might know? Figured, while I'm on holidays, I'll take a little road trip down to Canberra on Thursday. Planning on visiting the Deep Space Communication Centre and old Honeysuckle Creek site while I'm there. I'f you're all nice, I might post some photos too.

Tidbinbilla (CDSCC) has the best display of Apollo material (and of other space-related material) in the Canberra region. For example, they have on display the TV camera which was used on the Apollo-Soyuz mission. And I'm pretty sure in the past they had one of the  goodwill samples on display.

Honeysuckle is pretty and atmospheric.

7

The Reality of Apollo / Canberra Road Trip

« Last post by TimberWolfAu on January 12, 2026, 07:08:37 AM »

Just quickly, does anyone know if the following sites still hold Apollo items/exhibits?

- National Museum of Australia (I think it still has the Apollo 17 'goodwill' sample, but I can't see on their website that confirmed this)
- GeoScience Australia (some mentions say they have rock samples, but their website doesn't mention them)
- Questacon, they had some items at one point, but I didn't see them last time I was there.

And yes, I'll be calling them tomorrow to double check, but was wondering if there are any Canberra locals who might know? Figured, while I'm on holidays, I'll take a little road trip down to Canberra on Thursday. Planning on visiting the Deep Space Communication Centre and old Honeysuckle Creek site while I'm there. I'f you're all nice, I might post some photos too.

8

General Discussion / Re: The Trump Presidency

« Last post by LunarOrbit 🇨🇦 on January 11, 2026, 11:02:32 PM »

Considering all of the books, movies, and television shows that have been made over the last ~80 years warning us about people like Donald Trump, it is absolutely shameful that Americans voted for him anyway (for some of them three times!).

I don't think anyone needed to be prophetic to see this coming, just reasonably knowledgeable about history. I knew he would be a disaster over 10 years ago... but I had no idea he would betray allies and threaten to invade or annex them.

Where are the guardrails? Where are the checks and balances? Americans always bragged about their Constitution, but now it appears to be toothless because he violates it with zero consequences. What is the point of an oath of office if his Presidency isn't automatically ended the instant he breaks it?

The Republican Party is cancer to the entire world, and they should never be trusted with power again... assuming you survive long enough to extract it. Every trace of them must be irradiated out of the government's body at every level or it will just return.

Whether or not Trump is using some kind of "mad man" act (doubtful) or it is true madness (more likely) is kind of irrelevant. Either way, all he is doing is destroying the United States' global reputation for a long, long time. Nobody benefits from Trump's behaviour besides him and America's enemies, which only makes sense if that was the plan all along. But Russian collusion is just a hoax, right? 

Rant over... for now.

9

The Hoax Theory / Re: Watching the detectives...

« Last post by JayUtah on January 11, 2026, 12:11:22 PM »

Ironically, he may have stumbled on teh reaosn why the Apollo 11 telemetry tapes were re-used. VICAR used punch cards to process the data, and stored the output on magnetic tape. One tape could hold up to 99 images, depending on image size. I have no idea if the same tape was used, maybe someone else can clarify.

Telemetry tapes are not the same as computer tapes. Computer tapes are commodity items that you could buy by the case. There would be little need beyond convenience or nominal cost-savings to reuse those tapes. In contrast, telemetry tapes were made to operate at much higher tape speeds, higher tensions, and higher channel densities, so they were considerably more rare and expensive.

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The Hoax Theory / Re: Watching the detectives...

« Last post by bknight on January 11, 2026, 12:01:08 PM »

It seems to me that a lot of individuals with their hindsight have used the "If I ran the zoo" fallacy to dictate what the astronauts should have done.  They didn't check the mission was choreographed by NASA way before the missions launched.