Goonhilly – the station supporting Nasa’s Artemis moon mission from Cornwall

History-rich communcation centre in Lizard peninsula will track the rocket using its Merlin antenna

Naturally, mission control in Houston and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are the places most closely associated with Nasa's Artemis 1 moon adventure but a lesser-known spot on a remote heath in the far south-west of Britain is also playing a crucial part.

When the mission does blast off, hopefully later this week, scientists at Goonhilly Earth Station on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall will help Nasa track the rocket using a giant deep space antenna nicknamed Merlin, and then command six small research satellites that are piggy-backing a ride on Artemis.