Final Open Day Update Email

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Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 September 2007
www.csiro.au/parkesdish for more information

Our Open Days start tomorrow! Remember this will be your last chance for quite a while to see inside the Parkes radio telescope. Open Days might not happen again until our 50th birthday in 2011!

Weather outlook
Fine weather is forecast for the weekend with light winds and maximums in the low 20s. Remember to bring a hat and sunscreen. In the last few days the evening temperatures around the movie screening time have ranged from 7 to 17 degrees celsius so make sure you bring something warm to the free screening of the Dish by the Dish. Check the web cam or our weather station and links for current conditions and forecast.

ABC radio
Bruce Reynolds from ABC Central West radio will be broadcasting from the Observatory Open Days on the Saturday morning. Listen in from 6am to 10am or watch on in the last hour and a half at the Ask an Expert tent.

The Future of radio astronomy in Australia
Dr Lewis Ball, Deputy Director, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility
Theatre One in the Visitors centre at 11am Sunday
Australia is a world leader in the science of astronomy, and has unique environmental advantages that make it one of the best sites in the world for radio astronomy. Lewis will give a brief outline of the exciting future developments, including upgrades to the existing facilities at Parkes, Coonabarabran and Narrabri, a new $100M facility which CSIRO is building in Western Australia, and Australia's role in developing and possibly hosting the Square Kilometre Array - one of the biggest international science projects for the next 20 years.

Dishing up the data: Parkes and Space Missions
Mr John Sarkissian, Operations Scientist, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility
Theatre One in the Visitors centre at 1pm Sunday
The recent Australian film, The Dish, highlighted the role played by the Parkes radio telescope in tracking and communicating with the Apollo 11 mission. However, the events depicted in this film represent only a single snapshot of the role played by Parkes in the exploration of the Solar System by NASA. As the fledgling Deep Space Network was being established in the early 1960's, one of the world’s major radio telescope facilities was being built at Parkes, in western New South Wales, Australia. This 64-metre diameter dish, designed and operated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), was well-suited for deep space tracking work: its design was in fact, the inspiration for the 64-metre dishes of the Deep Space Network. From Mariner 2 in 1962 to Huygens at Titan in 2005, the Parkes radio telescope has been contracted by NASA on many occasions to support interplanetary spacecraft. The highlight of the NASA support was its critical role in several of the Apollo lunar landing missions, especially Apollo's 11 and 13. This talk will outline the role played by Parkes in these historic missions and its relationship with the stations in the Deep Space Network.

NSW State Emergency Service
One of the features in the community market will be a display by volunteers and staff from local State Emergency Service units that will include a rescue vehicle and flood rescue boat. Special guest Paddy Platypus will also be along to help spread the storm safe message. SES Storm Safe Week runs from 24 to 30 September and the SES will have plenty of tips on how to keep people and property safe during floods and storms. Information about volunteering with the SES to help your community will also be available.

Telescope Tours Run continuously 9-4 each day. Remember covered and flat soled shoes.

Watch The Dish by the Dish! Free entry Saturday 6:30pm

Helicopter Scenic flights 10-4 each day

Special displays and ask an expert

Community Market