astronomy

Muchea Tracking Station

Muchea Tracking Station is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Muchea Tracking Station rather than just read about it. In short: Muchea Tracking Station was an Earth station in Australia located close to Muchea in the Shire of Chittering, about 60 km (37 mi) north of Perth, Western Australia, built specifically for NASA's Project Mercury. History Muchea was established in 1960, and became operational in March 1961.

Key takeaways

Muchea Tracking Station belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Muchea Tracking Station to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Muchea Tracking Station from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Muchea Tracking Station was an Earth station in Australia located close to Muchea in the Shire of Chittering, about 60 km (37 mi) north of Perth, Western Australia, built specifically for NASA's Project Mercury.

History Muchea was established in 1960, and became operational in March 1961. It was Station No. 8 of the 14 Manned Space Flight Network sites around the world used throughout the project. The only other Australian site was Station No. 9, the Island Lagoon Tracking Station at Woomera, South Australia. These stations were managed and operated by the Weapons Research Establishment of the Australian Department of Supply on behalf of NASA. Muchea was equipped with a "VERy LOng Range Tracking" (VERLORT) S band radar operating between 2700 and 2900 MHz. This was an upgraded version of the SCR-584, with its range increased from 650 km (400 mi) to 4,000 km (2,500 mi), and the diameter of the dish increased from 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in) to 3 m (9 ft 10 in). It was also equipped with acquisition aid tracking systems, telemetry reception, and air-to-ground voice communications facilities. Because of its position, close to the antipodes of Cape Canaveral, it was also selected to have a command facility. Information about the range, bearing and elevation of the spacecraft was automatically relayed to the Goddard Space Flight Center by teleprinter. During each mission a NASA team consisting of two flight controllers and a flight surgeon were sent to Muchea. The Senior Flight Controller, usually another astronaut, acted as capsule communicator (CAPCOM). Muchea Communications Technician Gerry O'Connor became the first Australian to speak with an astronaut on 20 February 1962, when he contacted John Glenn aboard Friendship 7 on his first pass over the West Australian coast. A small plaque has been installed on the spot occupied by the Communications Technician's console which reads: "This plaque is to mark the spot where an Australian first spoke to a space traveller". Muchea was closed in February 1964, after the end of the Mercury Project. It was replaced by the Carnarvon Tracking Station for the Gemini and Apollo projects. Although the Muchea Tracking Station no longer exists, the Shire of Chittering has erected a small display about its history.

Missions The following missions were supported by the Muchea Station:

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Muchea Tracking Station

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Muchea Tracking Station claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Muchea Tracking Station before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Muchea Tracking Station ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Muchea Tracking Station

In research: Muchea Tracking Station appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Muchea Tracking Station in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Muchea Tracking Station is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1961 establishments in Australia, 1964 disestablishments in Australia, Astronomical observatories in Western Australia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Muchea Tracking Station outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Muchea Tracking Station in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Muchea Tracking Station means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Muchea Tracking Station out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Muchea Tracking Station in simple terms?

Why does Muchea Tracking Station matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Muchea Tracking Station?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Muchea Tracking Station.