Editors note: This is an old post from back n 2010, we’ve since been back in 2022 … look below!

Fizzics does school science outreach all over Australia and last week it was Condobolin’s turn to feel the love!
During our travels  we came across a huge amount of tumbleweed whilst presenting science for schools at the Australian Museum’s ‘Science in the Bush’ series at the Charles Sturt University building.
Take a look at this tumbleweed pile!

On the road, we passed the mighty Parkes observatory, an Australian icon and star of the movie ‘The Dish’. The Parkes radio telescope has been a household name in Australia since 1969 when it was used as part of the Apollo 11 mission. It was this dish that transmitted pictures back to six hundred million viewers as Neil Armstrong and (Buzz) Aldrin landed on the sea of tranquillity.  Next time you are out west call in and soak up this little piece of Australian and world history. Amazing!

BTW: a couple of facts about “The Dish” movie representing the observatory’s role during the Apollo missions

• On the day of the moonwalk it was gusting 110km/hr. The Director at the time, John G Bolton, decided to keep the dish pointing at the Moon beyond the 35km/hr limits. The stresses on the 1000-tonne structure would have been enormous.
• The first few minutes of the televised broadcast originated from Honeysuckle Creek, near Canberra. Parkes also broadcast images after a few minutes.
• The control room set in the movie was designed from photos of the era and is very realistic. It can be found in the visitor centre at the site.

You can read the full set of facts and figures on the CSIRO website

Update from 2022 – we ran science shows in front of The Dish!

During the 30th Anniversary of the Elvis Festival at Parkes, we were invited to run science shows in front of the iconic “Dish”. It was so fun to weave science demonstrations describing the phenomena that CSIRO Parkes Observatory actively searches for. We really are so privileged when it comes to programs we get to run and the sites we get to see!

Curious about other projects we’ve been involved in?
Check out our past science outreach projects here!

Happy teaching,

Ben Newsome