Man's first step on the moon nearly stumbled on earth
Plot Summary
A remote Australian antenna, populated by quirky characters, plays a key role in the first Apollo moon landing.
Run Time
101 min, France:97 min (DVD)
Aspect Ratio
1.85 : 1
Rating Details
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Language
English
Keyword
NASA, Satellite Dish, Australia, Moon Walk, Space
Movie Rating
Sound Mix
DTS, Dolby Digital, SDDS
Colour
Color
Has Detailed Data (New)
1, 2, 3
Count - Awards
14
US Box Office
2000000
Release Date
2000-09-15
Country
Australia
Country Of Origin
Australia
Wikipedia Plot
The radio telescope at Parkes, New South Wales, Australia, was used by NASA throughout the Apollo program to receive signals in the Southern Hemisphere, along with the NASA Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station near Canberra.
The film tells a somewhat fictionalised story of three Australian scientists/engineers (Neill, Harrington, Long) and their American NASA representative (Warburton). It had been decided quite late in the planning for Apollo 11 to include a television camera to broadcast the first steps on the Moon. Due to the timing of this, Australia would be the prime receiving station. The film tells of the three dealing with a variety of problems, from a power outage wiping their computer memory, to high winds that could cause the whole telescope to collapse. After the Apollo 11 crew decide to walk immediately after landing on the Moon, Parkes thinks they have lost their chance to be the prime receiving station. However, due to delays on the Moon and problems with Goldstone they achieve the distinction at the last minute.
Wikipedia Text
The Dish is a 2000 Australian film that tells a somewhat fictionalized story of the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying live television of man's first steps on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It was the top grossing film in Australia in 2000.
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