A bit of history of NASA’s Deep Space Network 51 (a Space Tracking and Data Acquisition Network) at Hartebeesthoek, South Africa 1961

The Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO), located near Johannesburg, was originally a tracking station for NASA’s interplanetary probes. Its main involvement was tracking and imaging in support of lunar missions.

The very first image of a planet other than Earth (taken of Mars by Mariner 4 in 1965) was received in South Africa at Hartebeesthoek.

http://www.hartrao.ac.za/other/dss51/dss51.html 

http://www.hartrao.ac.za/other/dss51/missions.html