The Dish

Today everyone knows that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first two astronauts to walk on the moon. Millions of people around the world watched the historical moonwalk on television on July 20, 1969. But what many people probably do not know is that the televised feat was made possible by a 1,000-ton radio telescope known as The Dish. Director Rob Sitch spotlights the four scientific civilians who operated that prime receiving station, which is situated in the middle of a sheep paddock in a small, provincial town in Australia. That charming town of quirky characters and incessant gossipers, the obstacles of a catastrophic power surge and threatening winds, and a montage of authentic documentary footage create an all-encompassing delight of intensity and Baby-Boomer nostalgia, and a gap-filler for us Generation X-ers who missed this awesome spectacle the first time.