News in Science - Time to rejoin space race, say scientists - 14/11/2007
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Time to rejoin space race, say scientists
Dani Cooper
ABC Science Online
Wednesday,�14�November�2007
Australian space scientists plan to send a spacecraft to a fiery death to learn about the sun's corona and the origin of solar winds (Image: NASA) Australia may gain a National Space Science Institute and send a spacecraft to a fiery death into the sun during the next 10 years, under a proposal by the nation's space scientists.The A$100 million national plan also includes the launch of two satellites and a network of measuring instruments to predict and monitor space weather and climate change phenomena in the region.The Decadal Plan for Space Science is being drafted for the national space science committee of the Australian Academy of Science and is intended "to build a true presence as a nation for Australia in space for less than A$100 million".Committee chair Professor Iver Cairns says the plan, which is due to be presented to the federal government early next year, is the "missing link" in Australia's research portfolio.He says research into the cosmos and the earth's surface is relatively well funded in Australia.But he says the "science of our solar system" needs to be made a funding priority."It's all very well focusing on astronomy, but it's out there. What about the link between here and there?" he says."This is the science of our solar system. That is the science we should be doing because it's local."At a little more than A$100 million in new funding, Cairns says the decadal plan will deliver "world-leading research and fund science that will provide great national benefit" through technological advances.He says it will also inspire the nation and open up fields of education such as space law and commerce.SundiverThe "grand challenge" of the plan is the Sundiver mission, which aims to beat NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) in sending the first spacecraft into the outer layers of the sun's corona.Cairns says this one-way mission will aim to uncover what heats the sun's corona and find the origin of solar winds."These are two of the holy grail questions of modern space physics," says Cairns, from the University of Sydney's School of Physics.Aurora Australis, the southern lights, are seen during strong geomagnetic events (Image: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)He says the currently uncosted Sundiver mission is an achievable goal and something to inspire the nation."The intention is to do it at a level Australia can do, which means it won't be a A$1 billion mission," he says."We intend to do it as a one-way ticket to a fiery death. We are not going to over-engineer it."He says Sundiver, which could be powered by Australian-made plasma thrusters, will get within three to four solar radii of the sun before it stops sending data back to earth.Cairns says renewed international interest in space travel and exploration makes it essential Australia develops a national program."China, Japan and India are all really getting into space at the moment," he says and adds that many of Australia's Asian neighbours have space programs."I think we are going back into another lunar exploration phase and we can play a part in it."Cairns says Australia and Mexico are the only two countries in the world's top 25 nations, by gross domestic product, that do not have a national space agency.Despite this, the decadal plan does not call for a space agency similar to NASA or the ESA.Instead it recommends establishing an Australian National Space Science Co-ordinating Group to manage research and funding and liaise with government, industry and international space programs.It also calls for a National Space Science Institute, preferably based in Canberra, to be created as a focal point for space science and technology research.WishlistTwo other major missions are also on the 10-year plan's wishlist.The A$17 million Octant project will be a polar-to-equator network of instruments that includes radars, magnetometers, cosmic ray detectors, the planned Square Kilometre Array radio telescope and the 2 metre, infrared, Antarctic-based PILOT telescope.The network will monitor, predict and measure space weather and its impacts on the earth's surface within the one-eighth of the globe over which Australia has territorial claims.The A$30 million Lightning mission aims to put two satellites about 400 kilometres above the earth with the capacity to change the height of orbit by firing thrusters."That would be a world first," Cairns says. "Lightning would open the door to Australian remote sensing capability and having instruments of our own that we control."He says Lightning will track changes in the atmosphere and ionosphere as well as play a role in climate change and remote sensing research.It will also demonstrate Australian capabilities for space technology and provide opportunities for international collaboration.Other smaller projects include work in the fields of hypersonics, image analysis and digital radar technology.Related Stories
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