WHEN the Mars rover Curiosity lands on the red planet next
month, Australia will be the only place on Earth with a direct
view to the touchdown. Those at the controls at CSIRO's
Tidbinbilla tracking station outside Canberra will be the eyes
and ears of the mission in the vital minutes when Curiosity
lands on the dusty surface to begin its 23-month mission on
August 6. The tracking station, part of NASA's Deep Space
Network, will be one of three around the globe monitoring the
mission. ''But at the time of landing we have an exclusive view
because Mars will be in our field of view at that time,'' said
Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex spokesman Glen Nagle.
Mr Nagle describes the 107 staff at the observatory as ''the air
traffic controllers of space''. Few landings, however, have
generated such anticipation. Tidbinbilla will receive the
rover's first signals before relaying the data to mission
control in America and will have sole responsibility for
communications during the landing. Entry into the atmo