It’s all about space and the men who have been there this week as NBN Co unveils new satellite ground stations with the help of a very special guest: one-Buzz Aldrin.
Senator Stephen Conroy removed his trademarked red underpants and flew out to Western Australia to meet with local dignitaries. He was there to open three new satellite ground stations for the National Broadband Network.
For the uninitiated, an NBN ground station serves to connect the three per cent of the population to the National Broadband Network that NBN Co has deemed to be unsuitable for fibre to the home.
The three ground stations will join seven others around the nation in coming years.
Along for the ribbon-cutting ride was former NASA astronaut and second man on the Moon, Buzz Aldrin (!!).
Aldrin was there because…well, because Buzz Aldrin. He said that nearby resided a communications facility used in the Apollo 11 mission. Aldrin said in the least crazy way possible that it’s great that Australia is talking to space again:
I think it’s just wonderful that Carnarvon will soon be reviving its historic links with space with the launch of a National Broadband Network satellite base station.
The revitalisation of a site that played such a central role in NASA’s Apollo missions will prepare people in the Australian outback for the next frontier in communications via the National Broadband Network.