New Star Player in Lunar Drama: The Dish

by Jan Aaron

Here’s something the Americans left out of the first moon landing, and something to enliven classrooms when the lunar event is discussed while studying space missions. Directed by Aussie, Bob Sitch, The Dish is a fact-based drama about the Australians who played a key role in the first manned lunar mission. Since the United States faces the moon for only part of the day, NASA needed help in piloting Apollo 11 along its astral route and broadcasting the images it collected back to earth. The only satellite in the Eastern Hemisphere that could handle such a task was the size of a football field and located in a sheep meadow outside of the tiny city of Parkes, Australia.

The movie tells the story of the people who tended this satellite and accomplished the mission. While somewhat floored by the honor, they go about their job in a laid-back way, led by the calm Cliff Buxton (Sam Neill). Among them is an American NASA by-the-book representative, Al Burnett (Patrick Warburton—“Puddy” on Seinfeld), who ultimately comes to respect the working ways of the Aussie team. In town, however, the residents run around so excited at their new importance that they unwittingly almost destroy the mission.

The residents in Parkes are a mix of quirky and endearing types. The mayor and his wife, among many others, are contrasted throughout the movie with the quiet team manning the dish. Computer failure and windy weather also threaten to destroy the mission, which would leave the world without lunar images. In the end, teamwork wins, and when the final frames show the actual moon walk footage, you feel like rooting for the crews up there and down under.

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