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They're piping out our space data!
Any nation that hopes to have a space program needs to be able to keep an eye on its orbiting assets at all times. This means that Australia has become a key link in the global chain of ground-based tracking stations.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a deep space tracking facility at Tidbinbilla in the ACT, managed by the CSIRO, and the European Space Agency (ESA) has one in New Norcia, Western Australia. The New Norcia station plays a further role as it picks up and tracks the ESA launches from French Guiana as they curve across the Indian Ocean on their way to Earth orbit or beyond.
This means that Australia plays a critical role in many other countries' space programs. Right now, about 40 space missions – including deep space planetary explorers, Mars rovers, solar observatories and astronomical space observatories – are routinely downlinking their data through radio dishes on Australian soil. This uniquely acquired data is then piped out of the country to the eagerly waiting US and European scientific communities, bypassing our own.
If Australia is to capitalise on its strengths in space tracking as well as space science, and is to get on board with the burgeoning commercial space industry, it's time that we considered forming a space agency of our own.
(Score: 3, Informative) by butthurt on Wednesday February 15 2017, @12:00AM
If it is to open its own space agency, not only it will need a launching site closer to the Equator [...]
Canada has its own space agency; launches are done from its facility at almost 60 degrees north latitude, or from other countries (Kazahstan, Russia, USA, India).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Space_Agency [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Churchill_%28rocket_launch_site%29 [wikipedia.org]
Bramble Cay, the northernmost point in Australia, lies at about 9 degrees south latitude.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bramble_Cay [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday February 15 2017, @12:09AM
> Bramble Cay, the northernmost point in Australia, lies at about 9 degrees south latitude.
As long as the neighbors' capital downrange doesn't mind getting hit by the occasional stowaway drop bear, it's a great launching latitude.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday February 15 2017, @04:18AM
Usually only people in tents get hit by drop bears, so shouldn't be too much of a problem.
On the other hand, falling from sufficient height *would* make them a bit less accurate.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 15 2017, @08:14AM
Yeah, hear, hear...
I fell only from a hammock and my accuracy is no longer what it used to be. And I wasn't even in a tent when it happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by butthurt on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:12AM
> As long as the neighbors' capital downrange doesn't mind [...]
Port Moresby is almost directly to the east, isn't it. Well, PNG was part of Australia until 1975; it serve the Australian Space Agency the way Kazakhstan serves Roscosmos. Manus Island is only 2 degrees south of the equator and there's nothing of any consequence to the east of it. No headaches for the ASA!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 15 2017, @12:41AM
True, but my point still stands... Australia will still need tracking facilities (or services) located in northern hemisphere
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @01:47AM
So kind of reciprocal with the current arrangements?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 15 2017, @05:59AM
Yes. But this is to demonstrate that the present time is as good as any others (i.e. it's not a "now or never" type of opportunity)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday February 15 2017, @05:58PM
How hard can that be? They can just partner up with Japan and Canada.