Woomera

Since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, interplanetary space has become filled with human material culture. A ‘spacescape’ now exists including terrestrial space sites like rocket ranges, satellites and space junk in Earth orbit and planetary landing sites. The significance of this material is usually understood within a ‘Space Race’ framework that emphasizes high technology and the Cold War rivalry between the USA and the USSR. However, appropriate management of the cultural heritage of space exploration requires a broader scope and this can be provided by a cultural landscape approach. The heritage significance of space exploration is explored through three cultural landscapes which illustrate complex and conflicting perspectives on space: Peenemünde in Germany, Woomera in South Australia and Tranquility Base on the Moon.

The GPS navigation system may become more reliable and useful during a conflict as a result of trials Australian and US defence scientists conducted at Woomera earlier this year, which demonstrated that the vulnerability of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to interference can be greatly reduced.

The GPS Jammer Locator (JLOC) trials/GPS Ability to Overcome Resistance (GATOR) was a joint demonstration between the United States Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Centre (AFOTEC), AF Space Battlelab and Australia's Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) the Defence Science and Technology Organisation at Salisbury in South Australia, and Air Services Australia (ASA).

"Woomera is the recognised home of military Unmanned Aerial Systems testing in Australia and it is fast becoming the destination of choice for our partners across the full spectrum of test and evaluation."  - Commander Aerospace Operational Support Group, Air Commodore Stephen Osborne, CSC, highlighting the range of advanced testing that occurs at Woomera - Jan 2015

As this air base and prohibited area witnesses a renaissance, proposed legislation also aims to open up the Woomera Prohibited Area to mining exploration and development of an estimated $35billion in resources. 

This article looks at woomera's allure from another perspective and asks:  "How can a piece of paddle-shaped wood deliver up to four times projectile force as that of a compound bow?"

While conducting test and evaluation of a GPS jamming system in cooperation with the US DoD and Australian DSTO, the author's personal experience with the aboriginal mastery of this implement is highlighted in a practical illustration that was conducted on the Woomera Golf Course. 

For related topic details (applied anthropology, material culture studies, Cold War and Culture see:
http://www.afar.com/places/woomera-woomera
http://www.afar.com/places/neuss-neuss
http://www.afar.com/places/point-conception-honda-ridge-well-preserved-pictographs-slash-pictoglyphs-santa
http://www.afar.com/places/kwajalein-and-likiep-atolls-majuro-atoll

A proposal to give Woomera’s space facilities a new lease of life has been strongly endorsed by a Flinders University academic involved in the preservation of historic sites associated with the “space race”. Dr Alice Gorman said that using Woomera as a spaceport for the growing space tourist industry would help to preserve its unique heritage values.

Australia offers a review of the start of the “Space Race” on three main grounds. First, Sputnik arrived unexpectedly on a nation which knew of the Soviet Union through domestic political events. Secondly, the establishment of the Woomera range and town is expressed as a special place, a “heterotopia” in Foucault’s term.  Finally, these two factors are dominant in Australian domestic science fiction of that time.
This paper will summarise the domestic Press in Perth and Adelaide of October 1957 as the country comes to terms with Sputnik 1.  Descriptions and omissions in this discourse are pointed out. In addition, to explore the notion of “heterotopia”, some modern illustrations are given of the archaeology of that special place, Woomera.