Neil A. Hogan Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
Space Fiction Writer Author Editor
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What a time to be alive! Check out a replay of this live stream. Find out more about the Super Heavy Launch Vehicle, due to be ready for missions in about six months. Space Stations, the Moon, Mars and beyond.
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If you haven’t heard, Australia now has an official department called the Australian Space Agency (launched 1st July 2018).
Of course, we’ve been heavily involved in space work since at least early last century. Even our tracking stations were instrumental in getting the moon landing event’s signal to Earth. The signal was received at Goldstone, Honeysuckle Creek near Canberra, and the Parkes Radio Astronomy Site in New South Wales, and then retransmitted. Without Australia’s help, the rest of the world wouldn’t have been able to see Neil Armstrong on the moon live.
So, we’ve been involved in Space for a very long time!
But, while we’ve had many space related disparate systems in place for decades, the RAAF Woomera Range Complex in South Australia is probably one of the longest.
Having been established in 1947 (hmm, that year sounds familiar), and also known as the Woomera Rocket Range, it’s always seemed to me to be a futuristic space port. Military weapons testing and experimentation, and lots of reported UFO activity (well, testing of advanced technologies at the very least.)
As the complex is over 400 kilometers away from Adelaide, it is quite a forgotten and seemingly secret area. In fact, you could even say that the area could be classed as Australia’s answer to Area 51. It’s not so secret though. You can find out more about the RAAF Woomera Range Complex history here
Rocket launch 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPOK3R-JtwI
Rocket launch 1967
I’d love to work there, from a fantasy point of view. But the reality is that it is hard, dangerous work, and you need to have a certain strong mindset to be able to do it. (It is a military research base, after all.)
And so, the Australian Space Agency has been set up for those who want to play in the business field of space, rather than do the grunt work of putting interplanetary missiles together.
If you’ve got great management and negotiation skills, and know how to sell technology, and space services, and you’re an Australian citizen with plenty of government work experience to executive level 1 or APS level 6, you could be what they’re looking for.
Find out the latest Australian Space Agency jobs here
The Australian Space Agency is temporarily based in Canberra, until the other Australian states have finalised and submitted their proposals. Personally, I’d love the agency to be close to where I live, but as this is for the future of all Australians, and the world, it should be somewhere that can generate the most business and jobs.
Here’s my take on where the first agency could be set up.
Arguably, Adelaide is currently set up to be the best location for a department focused on innovation and science, as well as being so close to Woomera. There are already multiple aerospace organisations there, such as Boeing Defence, and the local government is strongly focused on making South Australia a city of the future.
Melbourne would come a close second with so much research and development going on in multiple universities. Not to mention having the largest population of people interested in space in Australia. (Asgardia Melbourne Member List) With so many students in Melbourne happy to work there for free, there is ample opportunity to build it on a shoestring and expand it quickly, investing spare money into R&D. (Australian Space Agency? Work for free? What are you talking about?! I’d pay to be able to work there! LOL)
In regards to being an easy stop for officials, Canberra is best placed for this, and has plenty of space to expand. I think it’ll remain in Canberra for quite some time before branching out.
For having all the action in one place, and for bringing much needed investment into the area, I’d say Darwin would be a great location for not only a space agency, but also a working space port. Mainly due to it having a lot of convenience, plenty for tourists to do, a lot of opportunity for international businesspeople to make deals, and close to the equator, thereby reducing the cost of rocket launches thanks to having the already boosted Earth speed spin of over 400 kilometers an hour. However, the city is way too hot for many so if you plan to work a long time there, I hope you have plenty of melanin to cope. (I’d personally prefer a job in the antarctic rather than go anywhere near the equator again, or at the very least have my own personal refrigerator and sun protection suit!)
Perth is currently too far away from everything, direct flights to London notwithstanding, and firing rockets above the Indian ocean for safety, against the spin of the Earth, isn’t financially feasible. But Western Australia generally has some great places a space port could be set up. You could have the agency in Perth, and the Port three thousand kilometers away in the West Kimberley region. A great place could be the abandoned Ellendale Diamond Mine. You could set up a space port there, and while building it, dig for diamonds – killing two birds with one gemstone! Some of those underground tunnels would be ideal for a refit as a secret underground base.
Then again, if money saving and safety is key, then Cape York in Queensland is ideal. Closest point to the equator, near an already built airport, not many people nearby and plenty of space either side of the peninsula for the occasional faulty rocket.
My personal feeling is that the main location of the Australian Space Agency will end up being all over Australia. Especially as each state can offer unique benefits. I’m sure the current lobbying to get the first official location will be long forgotten when we have an outpost in every city. And with over 60,000 abandoned mines across the country, there are plenty of places where underground departments could be built for data storage, and keeping computer systems cool for launches. Every town could have a space port!
And, if we act now, we could begin converting all of Australia into one combined continent-port where interplanetary moon-sized ships could easily ‘dock’ in our million square kilometers of deserts, depending on their mass and gravity strength!
(Trivia. Yes, Australia is wider than the moon, and even if it docked with the outback, the curvature of the moon would still put it above all our cities. When we finally work out how to control gravity, we could bring it down and mine it! Hmm, I feel a story coming on.)
Update 060718. Check out this awesome article about Australia’s space exploits here from Business Insider
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Over the years I’ve read thousands of science magazines, journals, newspapers, newsletters, ezines, leaflets, books and more. Can’t remember any of them. And those that I do remember were ones I remember because they’ve just been superseded by new research.
I also used to own quite a lot of ‘science for kids’ books that gave complex information in easy to understand sentences, comparisons to soccer balls and olympic-size swimming pools, notwithstanding.
These days I get regular science news via email, and mobile apps. I still geek out a little at some awesome discovery, and when I see something new and fascinating, I either instantly think of a possible story around it, or save the link to refer to for a future scene in a novel.
I have no idea what links I have in my bookmarks now. Thousands I probably won’t revisit anytime soon. But I’m sure when I need them I’ll find them.
The idea of spending years researching the answer to just one thing doesn’t appeal. Numbers don’t appeal so much to me either. I disliked numbers so much I was one of the early adopters of bank cards, throwing away those old account passbooks as fast as possible, just so that I didn’t need to work out change in my head.
Of course, there are specific areas of science that don’t require numbers. No, I lied. There aren’t. Even studying the mating of the patagonian toothfish requires you to count how many fish there are in the school. So, writing has that unique feature of not requiring numbers that often (besides checking your word count, page numbers, chapter numbers, correct sizing for cover conversion, and… okay but it isn’t that often!)
But, the other reason that I never became a scientist was because there is just so much science to choose from. If I chose astrobiology, I wouldn’t be able to also do archaeology. If I wanted to work on biochemical materials for aeronautical purposes, I’d have to give up astronomy. And so, rather than focus on one and specialise, I dabble in them all and generalise!
I guess you could call me a pantomath, as I don’t have the memory of a polymath, though having the word ‘math’ in it does worry me somewhat. Even so, I love the idea of drawing on many fields and disciplines to solve a writing problem. It’s possible all science fiction writers are pantomaths. If its epic, and you can spot at least ten different disciplines underlying the science in the work, the writer can probably claim the pantomath title.
Quick with the science news, but also ready to comment on something remotely sciency, the articles read like someone’s having a conversation with you, and are great for grabbing the gist of something while waiting for a train. Of the 100 or so emails I get every day, it’s usually the first one I read.
Out of Melbourne, running since late 2004, the magazine and online website are great for revealing some easily missed science stories. While many science press releases get recycled by thousands of news outlets, Cosmos brings out some original stuff that doesn’t make it into mainstream. Once I’ve checked the trendy science news, I jump to Cosmos to find other news or a different perspective.
and
These are best read on a PC. They’ve got a great set up with recent news down the side columns, and easy navigation. Reading them on your smart phone is okay, though I like to read a single line to decide if I want to continue, not scroll through several lines and an image. Still, these are my go to sites for deep and meaningful news with stats, equations, quotes, and a lot more detail. They also cover unpopular news stories. You could spend hours here (and I have!)
Special mention for the app Science News Daily. It’s an aggregate app so you could end up with just about any science news from anywhere. Great for surprises! Lots of ads though, and some articles require a subscription.
I also check NASA, JAXA,the European Space Agency, and other space related pages every now and then, as well as subscribe to some random astrobiology newsletters.
I also read general news, which sometimes has some science news in it.
My fave general news apps are, in no particular order, (Google Play):
So, with all this reading, when do I have time to write?
Good point. I better get back to it!