When 600 million people were glued to their televisions in awe of the first moon landing, Ben Lam and David Cooke had little idea their work would become a defining moment in human history.



On July 20, 1969, electrician Ben Lam clocked in at the Parkes Observatory like any other day.

But it was not any other day, because almost 400,000 kilometres away humankind was preparing to take their first steps on the moon.

The monumental moment was not enough to impress Mr Lam at the time, though.

"It was just a normal day's work as far as we were concerned," he said.

"And knowing the fellow was going to the moon, oh, fair enough.

"You know there's a bloody moon up there.

"You took it for granted, you had to do your job, and we were doing it."

Ben Lam was far from impressed at the time of the first moon landing. ( ABC Central West: Donal Sheil )

After Canberra's Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station received the first eight minutes of the broadcast, NASA diverted to Parkes for its superior image quality.

Five decades later, Mr Lam was surprised the commemoration of the landing was causing such a fuss.

NASA diverted to Parkes' feed of the moon landing after Canberra's Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station broadcast the first eight minutes. ( ABC News )

"Now with the 50th [anniversary], it's just getting out of hand now," he said.

"It's getting bigger and bigger.

"We never had a clue it was going to be that big."

Then-radio receiver David Cooke said NASA had sent the details of Apollo 11 to Parkes as it journeyed to the moon.

By the time it came to receiving TV signals of the landing, it was a routine procedure.

"We knew that it was just another day where we would track in the same kind of way," Mr Cooke said.

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Massive wind storm nearly cut broadcast short

In the moments following the fabled first steps of the Apollo 11 mission, Parkes was battling its own formidable battle back on earth.

A hazardous storm blowing winds of up to 110 kilometres an hour had swept into the regional NSW town, shaking the control room and putting immense pressure on the facility's 1,000-tonne dish.

Mr Cooke said it could not have come at a worse time.

This is the only photo taken of the storm that ravaged the observatory in 1969. ( Supplied: David Cooke )

"We had the dish tipped over to the point on the horizon where the spacecraft would appear when it rose," he said.

"We began to get worried that we wouldn't be able to keep it there because the wind was blowing too strongly on the dish, and straining the motors.

"A lot stronger than we would normally stow the dish."

The wild wind soon threw the telescope off its zenith axis gears, threatening to compromise the broadcast entirely.

Electrician Ben Lam recalled observatory director John Bolton taking charge by breaking safety guidelines and thrusting the dish's motors against the wind to maintain its position.

"If I would've been driving that, I wouldn't have gone with it," he said.

"John said 'No, we've got to do it, it's the only chance we've got, it'll never come up again'.

"So we took the risk, and luckily enough we had no after-effects after it was all finished."

John Bolton broke safety guidelines to ensure the observatory could continue its broadcast. ( ABC News )

While these moments were recaptured in the 2000 film The Dish, Mr Lam said their depiction was far from accurate.

During pre-production of the film, Mr Lam was flown to Melbourne to read over the film's script.

Leading man Sam Neil handed him a yellow highlighter pen and asked him to highlight any inaccuracies.

"By the time I was finished, nearly all the pages were yellow," Mr Lam said.

Next generation ready for journey to the stars

The legacy of the Parkes Observatory survives in children like eight-year-old Oscar Hendry.

The moon-mad student is obsessed with the stars, and proud to call Parkes home.

Oscar Hendry said the Parkes Observatory was an inspiration for his passion for space. ( ABC Central West: Donal Sheil )

"Because I want to be an astrophysicist when I grow up, I think it's really handy to have the dish in my town," he said.

Oscar said he wanted to "study space" and "do cool experiments", inspired by the role of the Parkes Observatory in the moon landing.

"When I was about three, I asked my mum and dad 'What was at the edge of space?'

Primary school students in Parkes celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. ( ABC Central West: Donal Sheil )

"And they said 'The only way to find out is to figure it out yourself'.

"That's why I love space so much."

When asked what might lie beyond the earth's surface, Oscar suggested other forms of life could be waiting to be discovered.

"That'd be really exciting, one of history's greatest moments ever," he said.

