Sky Trackers
Mike, Nikki, Maggie and their families live in a remarkable place - beneath the massive gleaming white dishes of a space tracking station, located in the heart of the Australian outback. The kids are scientists' children. Yet they're ordinary kids facing the ordinary problems of growing up, but under very extraordinary circumstances. Home is a window on the universe. Students come to the tracking station from all around the world to conduct space-related experiments under the sponsorship of the Wright Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of science education. Nikki is 13 and into science. Her dream is to be the first person on Mars. Mike is 14 and he thinks science sucks. Jimi Hendrix is his hero. With his horse and guitar, Mike knows all there is to know about the meaning of life. Who cares about the stars? Tony, Mike's dad, and Marie, Nikki's mum, tentatively fall in love. Nikki and Mike do the same. And nine year old Maggie gets in everybody's way.
- 1994-1994
- 1 season
- Action & Adventure, Drama, Family, Science Fiction
- TV-Y7
Mike, Nikki, Maggie and their families live in a remarkable place - beneath the massive gleaming white dishes of a space tracking station, located in the heart of the Australian outback. The kids are scientists' children. Yet they're ordinary kids facing the ordinary problems of growing up, but under very extraordinary circumstances. Home is a window on the universe. Students come to the tracking station from all around the world to conduct space-related experiments under the sponsorship of the Wright Foundation, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of science education. Nikki is 13 and into science. Her dream is to be the first person on Mars. Mike is 14 and he thinks science sucks. Jimi Hendrix is his hero. With his horse and guitar, Mike knows all there is to know about the meaning of life. Who cares about the stars? Tony, Mike's dad, and Marie, Nikki's mum, tentatively fall in love. Nikki and Mike do the same. And nine year old Maggie gets in everybody's way.
Season 1 Episode Guide
26 Episodes 1994
Episode 1
Skating the Dish
24 mins
Mike Masters and his astrophysicist father, Tony, arrive at the Kaputar Tracking Station in the Australian outback after having been away for eight years. The dish is parked while it cools down to operating temperature and so Mike decides to put on his roller blades and skate the dish. Against Nikki's advice, Maggie joins Mike on the dish taking Polaroid's. Unexpectedly, the dish begins to move putting Maggie and Mike in danger. Nikki saves the situation but Tony discovers the Polaroids later and dresses down his son. Mike doesn't care. "Science sucks". Nikki is furious with Mike.
Episode 2
Meteor Rights
22 mins
Visiting Wright Foundation student, Susan Cooper, arrives to study a meteor shower. They photograph the shower and track one meteorite that has hit the Earth. Another student, Bruce, and his gang decide to find the meteorite as well, planning to sell it for money. The meteorite is eventually found in the middle of a scrap metal yard, and a chase ensues between our kids and Bruce and his gang.
Episode 3
The Beast
24 mins
Mike convinces his father, Tony, that it's time to buy a horse. But when Mike goes for a ride, the horse throws him, and Tony decides it's too dangerous. Mike swears that something scared the horse. To prove his point, the kids lay bait containing a transmitter. Using radio telemetry, the animal is tracked.
Episode 4
Tell Someone Who Cares
24 mins
Tony asks Mike to go camping with him. Mike declines. Tony camps near where he and his late wife used to collect gemstones. Tony's vehicle gets bogged and his mobile phone is out of range, so he is unable to contact Mike. Mike gets worried, fearing his father is not going to come back - just like the day his mother didn't come back.
Episode 5
The Big Skip
24 mins
Maggie, while listening into CB radio, hears a distress call from a child. But no one believes her. Nikki thinks Maggie's doing it for attention. The distress call is heard again and a satellite link is established with a low orbiting satellite that has a CB band. The distress call is pinpointed and the child is rescued.
Episode 6
Goddess of the Dawn
23 mins
Visiting Wright Foundation student, Romy, arrives to study an atmospheric phenomenon called the Southern Lights. Mike decides it's time to try for the first kiss with Nikki. The kids observe sunspot activity and estimations made as to how many days before the Southern Lights will appear. A bet is made with Frank Giles, who doesn't think they'll see the lights at all.
Episode 7
Dead Ducks
23 mins
The local legend of the Sundowner, a turn-of-the-century bushranger, sparks Mike's interest in looking for the bushranger's hideout. Dead ducks are discovered in a lake and an autopsy reveals that lead poisoning was the cause of death. Small traces of gold are also found in the duck's gullet.
Episode 8
Is There Life on Earth
23 mins
Shane, a visiting student, is doing a project on the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). Mike gets jealous that Nikki and Shane are spending so much time together and hatches a plan to fool Shane into believing that radio signals are being sent from space. But Nikki and Shane uncover the plan, and make it backfire on Mike.
Episode 9
Letting Go
24 mins
Items that Tony's late wife, Ellen, had with her on her final, fatal flight wash up in a lake. Mike wants to find out more, but Tony doesn't. Tony thinks that he's dealt with the issue of Ellen's death and doesn't want to open up old wounds. But Mike is insistent. Using remote sensing and by tracing the tidal patterns of the lake, the wreck of the plane is discovered.
Episode 10
To Tell or Not to Tell
24 mins
The magnetic field of Jupiter is a project that Zoe is supposedly studying as a Wright Foundation student. Unfortunately, it's Nikki's project as well. Zoe is not interested in science; her domineering mother has forced her into it. Zoe steals Nikki's research and presents it as her own at a conference.
Episode 11
Kiss the Sky
24 mins
Nikki needs software to help her complete drawings for her project on Mars, but she can't afford the software. She sets about making enough money to buy the software. Meanwhile, she is asked to teach a local girl, Lynne, how to use a word processor. Lynne and Nikki have a falling out but finally become friends when Nikki discovers that Lynne is good at drawing illustrations.
Episode 12
Can't Buy Me Love
23 mins
Marie's old boyfriend offers her a position with RGM Research, a private research organization based in Sydney. Nikki doesn't want to leave Mike and live in Sydney. With Tony's help, Nikki finds out more about the company using a computer bulletin board. She discovers that RGM is involved in a variety of bio-engineering projects involving viruses.
Episode 13
Rocket to Me
24 mins
An interschool competition sees the local school pitted against other schools to build the best rocket. During rocket testing, Mike discovers that his friend, Brad, is being bashed by his father. Nikki and Mike's parents are concerned that their children are staying out too late at night.
Episode 14
Aliens
23 mins
Nikki, Mike and Maggie see lights in the sky one night. They wonder if it's a UFO. Giles seems to be acting strangely and Maggie thinks Giles might be an alien. Mike and Nikki discover that Giles is interested in UFOs: a friend of Giles disappeared while investigating a UFO sighting.
Episode 15
Tree's a Crowd
24 mins
Maggie's favorite tree is under threat, about to be cut down by a bureaucrat, Mr Carver, to make way for a new building. Maggie and Tim, a visiting Wright Foundation student, band together to save the tree. They stage a sit-in up the tree, which then becomes a focal point for everyone's protest. Nikki climbs up to protest and is joined by Mike.
Episode 16
Ice Balls
23 mins
As Tony is preparing to leave for America and the shuttle mission, Nikki discovers a comet. To verify her discovery, she needs to use the optical scope at a nearby observatory. While at school, Nikki and Mike fight because word leaks among the other students about their relationship. Mike farewells his father sullenly, while Nikki gets a ride to the Observatory.
Episode 17
Long Distance Call
24 mins
Tony is launched into space aboard the shuttle. Nikki and Mike make up after their argument and the two hurry back from school to speak with Tony in space. The space shuttle is hit by space junk and communication is lost for a few hours. There is also a chance that the damaged shuttle may break up during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Episode 18
Star Time
24 mins
Tony returns to Australia a hero after his scientific experiments in space. Coral Lee, a television producer who wants him to become a celebrity on U.S. television, accompanies him. Tony leaves the decision about going to America up to Mike. Mike and Nikki fight about getting more serious in their relationship. It seems that Mike is going to leave Australia. Tony's Pluto probe, Vespucci, loses communication, much to Tony's consternation. But it's revealed that it's a hoax perpetrated by everyone at Kaputar in an attempt to convince Tony not to go back to America. Mike and Tony decide together not to leave.
Episode 19
Secrets
23 mins
Wright Foundation student, Simon, comes to Kaputa to use remote sensing to locate ancient Aboriginal sites. Simon uses both intuition and science to help him locate an ancient cave. Mike doesn't believe in intuition. A new road being built threatens Simon's discovery and the kids chain themselves to a bulldozer to protest.
Episode 20
The Wish Star
23 mins
Maggie and Nikki's father, Robert, arrives from France to do a story on Dr. Tony Masters. Maggie thinks she sees a new star in the sky, but when Nikki looks, it's no longer there. Meanwhile, Tony is trying to build up the courage to ask Marie to a dance. Mike tries to give his father some tips on dating. Robert raises the possibility of the children going back to live with him in France.
Episode 21
Origins
24 mins
Cleo, a Wright Foundation student, makes a major discovery. She detects a mass of hydrogen far out in space, but when it's suggested she and her parents have their photo taken for a newspaper, she declines. Cleo has just discovered that she's adopted, and with the help of Mike and Nikki, she tracks down her real mother.
Episode 22
Penguin Point
23 mins
Tony, Marie and their children go on a holiday together. Nikki discovers what looks like an oil slick on the ocean, and the discovery of an oil-soaked penguin confirms the children's fear. Mike and Nikki race against time to tell their parents, who are just beginning a romance. The tanker responsible for the oil slick is tracked down and the spill is cleaned up.
Episode 23
The Black Prince
23 mins
Nikki is accepted into Space Camp. In her view, this is the first step towards her life-long dream of being the first woman on Mars. Meanwhile, Elfie is doing a study on the local wallaby population. Mike and Nikki argue and Nikki thinks that Mike is jealous. Mike says he's going to get out into Space before Nikki.
Episode 24
WOW
24 mins
Nikki is making a video on the Search for Extra Terrestrials (SET), which Tony is researching. But Tony seems like he is losing his enthusiasm for science, until a real signal momentarily appears. But the signal doesn't reappear the next night. However, Tony's fire and enthusiasm for science is rekindled and by the end of the episode, Tony proposes to Marie.
Episode 25
Precious Days on the Planet
24 mins
Against the backdrop of Tony and Marie's impending marriage, Wright Foundation student, Jake, attempts to complete the 'final experiment.' At the point of his own death, he aims to transmit his energy through the dish and into Space. Nikki and Mike save the situation at the last moment. They begin to investigate the meaning of life and convince Jake that life is worth living.
Episode 26
Do or Die
24 mins
Tony, Marie, Nikki, Maggie and Mike fly to Melbourne, where Nikki is attending Space Camp. During the flight, Nikki gets motion sickness. This worries Nikki, who fears that the exercises at Space Camp will cause further bouts of motion sickness. As the new family books into the hotel, Maggie thinks that she sees a movie star, but no one believes her.
