This is not the first time a spaceport has been proposed for the nothern parts of Australia. Lets hope it leads somewhere!
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THE Top End could become home to a launching pad for space travel.
Darwin was named in a space industry report by the Senate Standing Committee on Economics as one of three sites -along with Cape York and Christmas Island - that had been considered for a launch pad.
Australian National University astronomer professor Paul Francis - who has previously worked at NASA - told the Northern Territory News yesterday that Darwin would "win hands down''.
He said it was close to the equator, would not kill a lot of people if things went wrong, and - unlike the other two sites - had much-needed infrastructure like roads, rail and power.
"If something goes wrong you don't want your burning space probe crashing on a city and killing people - that's why people put (launch pads) on the coast so it can launch over the sea."
Australia has form in the space stakes - South Australia's Woomera test facility was once the world's second most heavily used launch site.
But its distance from the equator means it is less suitable for launches - the speeds at which the Earth is spinning at the equator gives rockets an extra kick.
The senate's report - entitled Lost In Space? Setting a new direction for Australia's space science and industry sector - concluded it was in Australia's national interest to reduce its reliance on other countries for space technology.
It recommended establishing an Australian Space Agency.
But while it noted Woomera test facility's former popularity, it did not think Australia was likely to regain its role as a launch site.
Prof Francis acknowledged it was difficult for new sites to compete with established launch pads.
But he said there was growing interest in commercialising space travel and making it much cheaper for amateur astronauts.
"At the moment it's $20 million to put a person in space.
"A lot of people are betting you can bring the price of launching way down in the next 10 years - that the price can go down by 10 to 100 times. If that's the case there's going to be launch pads coming up all over the world."
British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Galactica plans to start ferrying private citizens into space next year - tickets start at US$200,000.
[Kingston University News 21 November 2008]Victoria, who dreams of becoming an astronaut one day, said the space agency signing would allow her to hone her skills in astronautics which she had first developed at Kingston. "The area I am working in is known as spacecraft propulsion," she explained. "I’ll be working with a very experienced team, designing the systems that help keep satellites orbiting in space and that reposition spacecrafts if they get knocked-off course." The Kingston graduate hopes to explore different aspects of propulsion and will also look at ways to launch rockets during the course of her placement.
Having become intrigued by space from an early age, Victoria built on her love of astronautics while completing a one-year foundation course in engineering at Kingston and went on to study for her MEng in Aerospace Engineering and Astronautics. "I’d always been fascinated by the solar system and knew I wanted to be involved with space exploration in some way," she said. "I opted for the foundation engineering course at Kingston because it provided a thorough grounding in engineering, applied maths and physics. It really opened the door for me to pursue my space interests further and after that I was able to specialise in aeronautics."
Working with external companies as part of her courses further bolstered Victoria’s confidence including a final-year project sponsored by Abingdon-based Reaction Engines, where she worked on a design for an engine to go in a spaceship that may be used to transfer crew between Mars and space. "This craft, known as a martian ferry, would refuel from chemical resources processed on the planet surface, avoiding the need to carry vast quantities of fuel from Earth," she said. As well as a six-month placement studying at the California Polytechnic State University, Victoria also spent a sandwich year placement working on satellites with IT and business services giant, Logica, where she enhanced her project management skills.
Victoria follows in the footsteps of fellow Kingston aerospace graduate Alison Gibbings, who was selected for a special 10-week programme at the prestigious NASA Academy last summer, before moving to work on ExoMars, Europe’s mission to explore the Red Planet. Dr Chris Welch, from Kingston University’s Faculty of Engineering, said it was a coup for yet another Kingston graduate to be selected by the European Space Agency. "It is a testament to the University’s academic excellence in astronautics and space technology," he said.
A posting to the Netherlands was not the only bit of excitement Victoria has had to contend with this year. Since graduating she has married high school sweetheart James Lowe who is also a former Kingston student. After returning from her honeymoon it was straight over to the International Astronautical Congress in Glasgow where she delivered a presentation as part of the student paper competition, before jetting off to the Netherlands. And it looks like there could be plenty more excitement ahead. After her year with the Space Agency, Victoria hopes to be taken on full-time with one of the sub-contractors which works with the agency or could pursue further research in astronautics. And if there is a seat on the next rocket launch available, she would always be happy to step in. "I can’t imagine people who work in the space agency not wanting to go there themselves," she said. "I’d definitely like to get there one day, either as an astronaut or as a space tourist."
Emmet graduated from Kingston in 1993 and soon after went to Cranfield University where he completed an MSc in Astronautics and Space Engineering. After relocating to Madrid, in 1997 he became European Managing Director for Analytical Graphics - producers of Satellite Tool Kit, the industry-standard package for space mission design. More recently, Emmet gained and International Executive MBA at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, a city that he loves living in. If you want to know more, check out his website!
A CubeSat is picosat - a very small cubical satellite 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm with mass of no more than 1 kg. Orginally developed by California Polytechnic State University, they have become quite popular with universities around the world because they are (by comparison with normal satellites) cheap to build and launch. This year, we are starting our own CubeSat programme - called KUbeSat - with aim of designing building and launching the first satellite with 3-5 years. The intial work is being carried out by a team of six final MEng Astro students and it, too, has a blog which you can find here.
Through ISU, we hear that the French space agnecy CNES is currently looking for young graduates from any ESA member state, having a degree in mechanical, electrical, telecommunications, chemical engineering, or in operations management, quality, safety, communication or public relations, for permanent positions at the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's Spaceport in Kourou.
The European Space Agency is holding a competition for the upcoming Planetary Defense Conference in 2009, in order to stimulate some innovative research and encourage European research students to participate. The Advanced Concepts Team (ACT) has come up with a few concepts that young researchers from various fields may wish to research. They have identified the following concepts as potentially interesting:
Another month, another astronaut! This time it's ESA's Jean-Pierre Haigneré who will be at the Victoria and Albert Museum along with SF author Alistair Reynolds on Friday December 5 for an event called Space Frontiers, part of the V&A's Utopia to Outer Space: Cold War Weekend event (tickets £8).
Jean-Francis Clervoy, ESA Astronaut is giving a public talk on Europe's Role in the International Space Station next week at the Royal Aeronautical. Society on Wednesday 12 November. Admission is free and doors open at 6.00 pm. This is an excellent opportunity to see the RAeS HQ, network and hear an astronaut speak. If you get your photo taken with him, we'll put it on the blog!
Some of you may have met Carol Norberg from Umeå University in Sweden at the IAC last month. Umeå runs a number of extra-curricular courses in space and space-related areas and we just had notification that there are a few places left on their Artic Science course at Kiruna in north Sweden in January.
During the last year I worked with comedienne Helen Keen and her writing partner Miriam Underhill on It Is Rocket Science!, a space-and-rocketry-themed show for the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe. It had great reviews and this week comes to the Dana Centre in London for one night only - Tuesday 4 November. Go see it!