Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2016
The Tidbinbilla NASA Deep Space Network tracking station near Canberra employs 64-m and 34-m antennas for deep space vehicle communication. Regular use is made of the facilities for radio astronomy via a host country agreement between the United States and Australia. To support the expanding astronomical use of the station, and in particular for the Tidbinbilla two-element interferometer (Batty et al. 1977), a small computer was installed early in 1980 to control observations. The system will also be used for as much data analysis as possible to minimize off-site computing.