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"I salute--from my space helmet--the Range Rats, the unsung heroes of the space race to the future."

Dr. Buzz Aldrin, Gemini XII, Apollo XI

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2024 UPDATE Please see "NEWS" section

This website has been created in an attempt to preserve some of the history of the old NASA spacecraft ground tracking network and other programs that personnel of the former Bendix Field Engineering Corporation (BFEC) were involved with and as a central point for matters of interest to these employees. A Web Scrapbook.

The below "thumbnail" history is just that and a more detailed version is available under the "HISTORY" button on the left column of this page.

BFEC ceased to exist in name in 1992 and assumed the identity of another major aerospace company (AlliedSignal).
The Bendix Corporation was acquired by the Allied Corporation in 1982 and shortly thereafter Allied merged with the Signal Corporation becoming AlliedSignal Inc. However, Bendix Field Engineering Corporation's name did not change until 1992 whereupon it became AlliedSignal Technical Services Corporation (ATSC) and then in 1999 AlliedSignal merged with Honeywell and thus becoming Honeywell International and with the old BFEC/ATSC becoming Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. (HTSI).

The company was originally a part of Bendix Radio and was formed in 1950 to provide support for a U.S. Air Force radar system and other Air Force equipment. Later, with the advent of the space age, the company became an integral part of the "Space Race" by providing support starting with the MINITRACK program and soon after with Project Mercury and then on to the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab missions with the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN), the Satellite Tracking and Data Acquisition Network (STADAN) which supported many of the unmanned scientific satellite programs, and the Deep Space Network (DSN). The MSFN & STADAN programs were combined in the early 70's and became the Spaceflight Tracking Data Network (STDN). The last Apollo mission occurred shortly after this with the Apollo/Soyuz Test Project in 1975.

The 80's seen the advent of the Space Shuttle program and was supported by BFEC until it ended in August 2011. Also in the early 80's, the Tracking Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) came into being and by the latter 80's became fully operational and at this time most of the spacecraft ground tracking stations were closed, ending an era that was a way of life for many of those, "Range Rats" who manned them. Also during this time frame, many other programs were being supported, a few of which are listed below.

In the following we have listed many of the areas of support such as tracking stations, various projects and other items of interest.

A PARTIAL LIST OF CURRENT AND PAST TRACKING STATIONS/SHIPS

Antofagasta, Chile-------------------Guam
Antigua ------------------------------- Guaymas, Mexico
Australia----------------------------- -Johannesburg, So. Africa
Perth----------------------------------USNS Huntsville
Carnarvon---------------------------USNS Mercury
Woomera-------------------------- - Tula Peak, Holloman AFB
Canberra -------------------------- -USNS Redstone
Ascension Island, So. Atlantic ---- Johnson Island, So. Pacific
Bermuda ----------------------------- --Kano, Nigeria
Blossom Point, MD
Brown Field, CA-NELCAL----------- -Kauai, Hawaii
Buckhorn, CA --------------------------Lima, Peru
Canary Islands ------------------------Madrid, Spain
Canton Island, So. Pacific----------- Merritt Island, FL
Corpus Christi, TX -------------------- Newfoundland
Cuba ------------------------------------Quito, Ecuador
Dakar, Senegal ----------------------- Rosman, NC
East Grand Forks, MN
Eglin AFB, FL ...........---------------- -Santiago, Chile
Fairbanks, AK -------------------------Seychelles, Indian Ocean
Ft. Myers, FL --------------------------Tananarive, Madagascar
Gaborone, Botswana ----------------- USNS Vanguard
Goldstone, CA -------------------------Wallops, VA
Grand Bahamas -----------------------Winkfield, England
Grand Turk -----------------------------Zanzibar
Greenbelt, MD ------------------------ Pakistan
Rose Knot Victory/GEMINI----------Coastal Sentry Quebec/GEMINI

OTHER PROGRAMS, LOCATIONS PAST & PRESENT

Initial Defense Communications Satellite Project (IDCSP)
Camp Roberts, CA / Ft. Dix, NJ - Initial Launch 16 June 1966

Naval Electronics System Engineering Activity (NESEA)
St. Inigoes, MD
With worldwide locations:
Iceland / United Kingdom / Bermuda / Caribbean Islands
Canadian Provinces / Hawaii / Guam

Project Namfi - Nato Missile Firing Range
Crete & other Greek Islands

AMQ-25 Program
U. S. Air Force WC-135 airborne weather data system
Alaska / England / Japan / California

NAVSPASUR
Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, California, Arizona
New Mexico

NMOS
GSFC, various locations

LASER TRACKING NETWORK (GLTN)
Worldwide

STSOC
Johnson Space Center

Naval Research Labs (NRL)
Blossom Point and various other locations

Network Test and Training Facility
Wallops, VA (early Mercury & Gemini period)
Greenbelt, MD

Pacific Missile Range
Kwajelein & Eniwetok, to Tern Island, the Hawaiian Tracking Sta,
at South Point, the USNS ships Sunnyvale & Longview and other
support operations.

Missile Impact Location System (MILS)
Kaneohe MILS, Midway Island MILS, Wake Island MILS, Eniwetok Atoll MILS

Corona Project Stations
USNS Longview & Sunnyvale (Recovery Ships), Christmas Island,
Tern Island and South Point (Tracking Stations).

Mercury Project
Worlwide MSFN Stations

JPL/Deep Space Network
Pasadena, Goldstone, CA, Mojave(STADAN)

National Security Agency

WSC TDRS Ground Terminal
White Sands Test Facility
White Sands, NM

AFSCN Depot Support
Colorado Springs, CO

Marine Corps Maritime Prepositioning Ships MPS
Jacksonville, FL

NASA INSTRUMENTED AIRCRAFT
Calibration Plane, Apollo Simulator, ARIA etc. for NASA Tracking Stations &
other functions. Converted C-47, C-54, C-118, C-121's & EC-135's.

SAUDI ARABIA
Peace Sun and others

NELCAL & SPASUR - Naval Electronics Laboratory, CA
Brown Field, Chula Vista, California

C&E Depot Level Maintenance program
USAF Europe 1959 - 1961

Augmentation Contract to the USAF
Europe 1962 - 1963

Project Bamboo Tree
USAF 1964 - 1966 - An Air Force communications/direction project (Air Access Berlin) involving a Course Directing Radar Set, Ground Radio Set, and a Bomb Scoring Range-Radar Trainer.

Shemya
See link on "LINKS" page

Defense Nuclear Agency, DNA
Nevada Test Tite & WSMR from 1968 to present.

U.S. Dept. Of Agriculture
Georgia, Illinois, and Louisiana

U.S. Dept. of Energy
Colorado from about 1980

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE
Continuing support from early development through current servicing missions.

Environmental Protection Agency
New Jersey and Oregon

And many others...

Gary Schulz
BFEC/ATSC/HTSI
1966 - 1996
webtek@bfec.us
Chronicle

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