Essentially this book is a biography of the late Tom Reid, a distinguished engineer whose career highlight was perhaps his leadership of the team that ran the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station in Australia during the Apollo Space Programme. It was the Honeysuckle Creek team who facilitated the live pictures of Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk in July 1969, in a behind the scenes story as dramatic as it is unknown. Tom Reid is certainly a worthy subject for biography. The Author follows his days as a talented youngster from Glasgow, navy service, emigration to Australia, and rise as an engineer and leader in the 1950’s and 1960’s at Woomera Rocket Range, Orroral Valley Tracking Station, Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station and Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, the last of which remains an important part of NASA’s Deep Space Network to this day. Whilst the book may on the face of it appeal primarily to spaceflight history enthusiasts, Tom Reid’s broader story will be of interest to anyone who enjoys a solidly researched and well written biography.

Recommended.

Honeysuckle Creek by Andrew Tink, published by NewSouth, purchased by the Reviewer from QBD Books Southland, price $A 34.95.