Posted by tourdemars to Interplanetary Internet at November 1, 2003 12:00 PM

More than 34 years after the Parkes radio telescope relayed to the world pictures of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon, NASA has commissioned it again, this time to help manage a looming cosmic traffic jam. US ambassador Tom Schieffer yesterday visited the western NSW town to launch the radio telescope's new role in tracking a fleet of probes exploring Mars and the outer limits of the solar system.