Thomas Reid MBE (14 March 1927 – 2 October 2010) was the director of the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station outside Canberra, Australia, which in July 1969 transmitted live television of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon to a world-wide audience of 600 million people.
Due to technical difficulties, Goldstone could not relay broadcast quality TV of Neil Armstrong as he descended the Eagle's ladder to the Moon’s surface.
At the last minute, mission control switched over to Honeysuckle which transmitted to what was then the largest TV audience in history the footage of Armstrong stepping onto the Moon.
In 1970, Reid became director of the nearby Tidbinbilla Tracking Station, which maintained communications with spacecraft travelling to the outer edges of the solar system and beyond.
For his work as a space tracker, Reid was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire[3] (MBE) in 1970 and in 1989 he was presented with the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal.