Australian Space Science and Astronomy a big winner in the Super Science Fellowships Scheme

As part of the Super Science Fellowships scheme, the Australian government has announced that 33 fellowships within the Space Science and Astronomy field have been successful, with 17 commencing in 2010 and 16 commencing in 2011.

In particular, several of the awarded fellowships relate to technologies and science that will directly support the Square Kilometre Array project, directly enhancing Australia’s chances in hosting the major international facility.

The successful 2010 fellowships in Space Science and Astronomy include:
The Galaxy Genome Project 1 – The Anglo Australian Observatory
Space science and astronomy: New eyes on old stars: Decoding late-stage stellar evolution. – Macquarie University
A New Era for Australian Exoplanetary Science – The University of New South Wales
New Dimensions in Radio Astronomy: Mining Sparse Datasets with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder – The University of Sydney
Towards operational monitoring of key climate parameters from synthetic aperture radar – The University of Melbourne (although it is not within the Space Science and Astronomy category)
Peering through the Dark Ages with the Murchison Widefield Array – The University of Melbourne
Supporting early science from the Murchison Widefield Array - a Square Kilometre Array (SKA) pathfinder telescope – Curtain University of Technology (WA)
Neutral Hydrogen in the Universe – The University of Western Australia
Geophysical, Galactic, and Extra-Galactic Science with the AuScope and Australian Pathfinder Arrays – The University of Tasmania
Large-scale maps of the universe: Enabling wide-field science with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and the Square Kilometre Array – CSIRO



The successful 2011 fellowships in Space Science and Astronomy include:

The Galaxy Genome Project 2 – The Anglo Australian Observatory
Space Science and Astronomy: Dissecting the Galaxy with High Resolution Multi-Object Echelle Spectrograph (HERMES) II: Decisive Observations – Macquarie University
Accretion and Feedback in Galaxies with Cosmic Time – The University of Sydney
Australia Surveys the Galaxies: The Central Role of Environment – Monash University
Mass Assembly of Galaxies In the Cosmos: the roles of stars, gas, and metals – Swinburne University of Technology
Supporting early science from the Murchison Widefield Array - a Square Kilometre Array (SKA) pathfinder telescope – Curtin University of Technology
Establishing the reference frame using astronomical and space-geodetic observations – The University of Tasmania
Exploiting the discovery of ultra-faint dwarf galaxies in the southern hemisphere sky – Australian National University

Full details on the ARC website at:

http://www.arc.gov.au/media/major_announce.htm

A Capability Index for the Australian Space Research Program

The Space Policy Unit is getting together a “Capability Index”, that will basically be used as a networking tool for potentially interested candidates for the Australian Space Research program.

The index comes with the usual government caveats that they don’t endorse any of the capabilities.

Perhaps the Capability Index can grow in the future to be used as more of a survey of Australian Space capabilities? I would suggest that the Space Policy Unit could also migrate the data that they have from similar previous databases that they held. I also hope that they make an effort to contact many relevant companies and organisations to fill in the index, otherwise it will end up providing a non-representative overview of the Australian Space industry.

Full details can be found at:

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Industry/Space/Pages/AustralianSpaceResearchProgram-CapabilityIndex.aspx

A Space SPO within Defence?

The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) has recently engaged the services of the Australian Public Service Commission on a contract worth $44K for "consultation against recruitment activities for Space SPO".

I guess this forms a follow up to the Defence White Paper's recommendations to strengthen the ADF's space situational awareness and mission assurance capabilities, and including "the ADF developing a career stream for space specialists".

Hypersonic Success

(Photo: DSTO)

The Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) team have announced that their 2nd flight test on the 22nd of March has been successful at Woomera in the South Australian Outback.

The test took the flight vehicle into space to an altitude of 200km, before it dived back into the earths atmosphere at a hypersonic speed greater than Mach-5, or 5830km/h. The vehicle itself crashed into the ground 10 minutes after launch, with valuable flight and testing data transmitted to the ground station.

The test flight is the 2nd of 10 planned for the HIFiRE program, which is a joint research program between the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DSTO) and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Australian Space Research Program Round 2 Open

The Australian Government Space portal has announced that Round 2 of the Australian Space Research Program is Open. Applications are due by the 6th of May 2010, with hard copies due a week later.

Interestingly, they are holding 2 information sessions on the Program including:

* Canberra - 2pm, Monday 29 March 2010
* Adelaide - 2pm, Wednesday 31 March 2010

This seems to be a good step, to get some broader understanding and support within both Academia and Industry of how to apply for this funding.

So, for those of you who missed out on round one, here's your next shot at it. For more information, head to:

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Industry/Space/Pages/AustralianSpaceResearchProgram.aspx

Australia's Space Capability Workshops

SKM together with the Australian Government is holding a series of Capability Workshops, as one of many inputs to the development of an Australian Space Polciy.

Information can be found on the innovation department's Space page.

http://www.innovation.gov.au/Industry/Space/Pages/PublicEvents.aspx

The website explains: that "each workshop will run for approximately 4 hours with lunch provided."

So if you can make it.....

Brisbane	12th March 2010 at 12.45pm
Melbourne	16th March 2010 at 8.45am
Canberra	17th March 2010 at 8.45am
Perth	18th March 2010 at 8.45am
Adelaide	2nd March 2010 at 8.45am (I'm guessing they mean the 22nd for Adelaide)

If you can't, they've posted the contact details for Tara Ruffles at SKM.

So, if you're interested in helping shape Australia's future Space policy, here's your chance!

ASKAP recieves first signals

CSIRO has announced that the first antenna for the ASKAP project has received its first light, or radio waves as the case may be.

The first of the 36 dishes was tested with satellite signals during its holography process to measure the shape after construction. The folks at CSIRO along with their contractors have been working hard to assemble the first dish over summer, out in the soaring temperatures at the "Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory" in the middle of nowhere in the Western Australian outback.

The test results show that the antenna is working beautifully, beyond specifications." CSIRO ASKAP Project Director Dr David DeBoer said.

Not bad for the new 3-axis design that they've been working on for ASKAP.

Some clearly good signs for Australia's chances of hosting the full SKA facility.

ASKAP Antenna Number 1. (Photo : CSIRO)