If Darwin is Not Protected

If Darwin is not protected, Australia is not protected

People who live in the south often think of Darwin as isolated, but we are central to our nation’s interests and closest to the fortunes of half a billion people in Asia.

It’s those Australians residing in far-flung Melbourne and Sydney who live farthest from where our nation’s destiny resides.

Darwin is part of Asia and the Royal Australian Air Force understands this. It routinely holds, with a growing number of partners and allies from across the region and beyond, joint exercises using the Northern Territory’s RAAF Base Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal.

The RAAF, celebrating 100 years of service to the nation, is good at making friends and trading wisdom. Here in the north, we’re good at making sure all who come feel welcome as a place to live, work and, as is so important for the RAAF, to continuously train and prepare.

The Northern Territory’s Bradshaw and Delamere ranges are considered the finest pilot training grounds in the Indo-Pacific, due to the low electromagnetic interference and lack of commercial overflight.

The RAAF understands that if Darwin is not protected, Australia is not protected. That is our history and that is our reality.

The first plane to touch down in Darwin, was a Vickers-Vimy bi-plane with Captain Ross Smith, Lieutenant Keith Smith, Sergeants Wally Shiers and Jim Bennett aboard. It was 1919 and the team had just won the Great Air Race — and a handy 10,000 pounds.

Darwin was not a capital city back then and the RAAF was two years away from being christened in 1921. But Ross Smith, who had flown with the RAAF predecessor, the Australian Flying Corps, where he was an awarded air ace, had done something remarkable in being the first to fly from Great Britain to Australia.

Ross Smith and his team had not only opened up the world, they put our northern outpost on the map as the logical entry point to Australia after island-hopping across the then Dutch East Indies.

It was also the logical place to strike Australia when Japan launched two massive assaults on Darwin on February 19, 1942.

On the morning of the raids, more than 1000 service men and women were busy at their normal duties at RAAF Base Darwin and had little time to respond. Ten aircraft were parked in the open, and they were all destroyed — along with a squadron of brave American Curtiss P-40 pilots who went up to try and counter the invasion and were all but wiped out.

The alliances formed at that time remain inviolate.

Darwin hosted a large number of RAAF and US Army Air Force units during World War II and served as a first refuge for retreating USAAF units from the Philippines in 1941 — not to mention American ships which sought shelter in Darwin Harbour and paid a terrible toll.

Originally known as Carson’s Airfield, RAAF Base Tindal was constructed in 1942 by the US Army’s 43rd Engineer General Service

Regiment to provide a base for Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers striking targets in Papua New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies.

In 1946, the base was renamed in honour of Wing Commander Archibald Tindal, the first RAAF member killed in action on the Australian mainland during World War II. He died, aged 26, while manning a Lewis machine gun at RAAF Base Darwin on February 19. He is buried at the Adelaide River war cemetery, an hour’s drive south of Darwin.

RAAF Base Darwin was bombed 64 times between February 1942 and November 1943. It then became an important transit stop for military movements throughout Asia, including use as a transport hub during Vietnam.

RAAF Base Darwin and Tindal supported two interventions to Timor Leste and No 75’s Squadron deployment for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

We own and honour the RAAF’s history in Darwin and Katherine, just as we welcome its place into the future.

There are significant upgrades to Darwin and Tindal underway, enhancing air-to-air refuelling and airsupport capabilities. The first of the F-35 joint strike fighters arrive in Tindal later this year, and the aircraft tarmac is being readied for the arrival of the Triton drone.

We occupy our place in the nation and the region with eyes wide open. Our understanding of history and our place in the world means the RAAF is part of who we are.

We have been called the tip of the Australian spear. We have been called Australia’s watchtower in the Indo-Pacific. We are those things, but we are much more. We are a safe and secure place for opportunity and investment.

Three shipments of gas leave Darwin for Japan each week. Northern Territory cattle feeds our neighbours. Sun Cable will soon provide 15 per cent of Singapore’s power. Major subsea data cable projects are underway, linking Asia to Australia via Darwin.

That means there is much to protect. The RAAF will stand guard with friendly intentions unless it is tested.

We acknowledge the 100th Anniversary of the RAAF with gratitude for what they have done for us and what they will always do for us.

Michael Gunner is the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.

Michael Gunner | www.defence.nt.gov.au

Pathways For A Career In Space

There’s much more to a career in space than being an astronaut. There are many exciting career paths to follow right here on Earth. Space law, medicine, design and manufacturing, robotics and data analysis. We need a range of skills to support our growing space sector.

Building a future workforce

We’re inspiring the future workforce to study subjects and gain experience that will sustain and grow our national space industry. Our goal is to triple the size of the sector and create up to 20,000 new Australian jobs by 2030. We are: • supporting STEM and space-related initiatives and organisations around

Australia • developing programs to enable students and young professionals to gain real-world space-related educational and professional experiences • attracting international space experts into the Australian space education and industrial sectors • inspiring the next generation through the fascinating aspects of space • showcasing the diverse career paths in the Australian space sector and of Australian space professionals working internationally • supporting national activities that inspire an interest in space • collaborating with state and territory governments, industry, academia and research institutions

Launch your career in space

Space is a multidisciplinary domain and needs all sorts of skillsets and types of people.

Technical specialists

Fabricator - fabricate, fit, assemble and weld metal parts, structures and equipment. Cyber security specialist - plan and implement security measures to protect computer networks and systems. Space lawyer - provide advice and prepare legal contracts and documentation to ensure compliance with Australian and international laws and treaties. Space scientist - apply the laws of physics, chemistry and geology to understand the universe and its contents. CNC machinist - are responsible for setting up manufacturing operations. CAD drafters and designers - use computer-aided design to create and modify 2D and 3D designs and drawings. Intelligent game developers - build, program and utilise systems and games in virtual reality, augmented reality and simulations.

Electricians and electrical

technicians - test and repair electrical systems, equipment and components. Engineering technologists- analyse, modify, test and apply new and existing engineering technologies to solve complex issues in consultation with engineers. Avionics technicians - install, inspect, test, adjust and repair electronic equipment on aircraft and spacecraft.

Engineering technicians

Engineering technicians work with engineers to design, build and test equipment, conduct experiments, collect data and identify and solve engineering problems. Mechanical technicians - install machinery, parts and equipment onto aircraft and spacecraft. Assembly technicians - construct, assemble, fit, fasten and install parts in aeroplanes, spacecraft and satellites.

Automation & robotics technicians

- assist engineers to build, install, operate, test and maintain robots, robotic components, devices and systems. Astronaut - command, pilot or serve as crew on spacecraft.

Engineers

Robotics engineer - build, install, operate, test and maintain robots, robotic components, devices and systems. Propulsion engineers - design, test, and manufacture spacecraft propulsion systems.

Electrical, electronics and avionics

engineer - design, construct, install, maintain and test electronic and electrical systems. Space systems engineer - design, construct and test aircraft, spacecraft, missiles, satellites and equipment.

Software developers and software

engineers - design, program, test, implement and maintain software programs.

Management and administration

Project manager - plan and manage resources for projects to deliver them on time and on budget.

Network and systems administrators

- configure, install, maintain and protect software, hardware and the network.

Work, health and safety officers

- ensure compliance with health and safety systems, conduct risk assessments and advise staff. Australian Space Discovery Centre

STEM Returners Launched In Australia

In July 2020 we launched our brandnew STEM Returners branch in Australia!

Headed up by Marcail Roe, a two time return to work mum herself, Marcail knows the barriers and challenges faced by women re-entering the workplace. With major government investment in the Defence sector in Australia planned over the coming decades, thousands of new jobs will be created. This is the perfect time to readdress the balance and increase diversity in this new workforce.

We want employers to view CV gaps in a different way. Operating within an incredibly skills short market, the scheme allows employers to attract candidates from a new talent pool, and give candidates a supported route back to their career.

By facilitating paid short-term placements for professionals returning to work after a career break, we can begin to utilise the untapped talent in the engineering sector. The project provides support for candidates in advice, career coaching, networking opportunities and mentoring. All of the candidates going through the program will also have the opportunity to restart their career in a permanent position at the end of the program.

BAE Systems is the first Australian company to engage with STEM Returners to provide new opportunities for skilled professionals in its national defence and security business.

STEM Returners has also partnered with Engineers Australia who will provide professional mentors and memberships to the successful Returners in their programs, this is an important part of providing support to our Returners as they re-start their careers.

BAE Systems is the first Australian company to engage with STEM Returners. BAE image.

STEM Returners revealed on International Women in Engineering Day that 61% of STEM professionals on a career break are finding the process of attempting to return to work either difficult or very difficult, with women “bearing the brunt” of the challenge.

The program for diversity’s annual survey found 27% of women feel they have personally experienced bias in recruitment processes due to their gender compared to eight per cent of men.

The poll also found 30% of women feel they have personally experienced bias in recruitment processes due to childcare responsibilities, compared to six per cent of men.

STEM Returners’ questionnaire asked 750 STEM professionals on a career break, who are attempting to return to work or who have recently returned to work, a range of questions to understand their experience of trying to re-enter the workplace.

Marcail Roe, Director of STEM Returners Australia said “I’m excited to be launching this program in partnership with BAE Systems, a forward-thinking organisation trailblazing this initiative in Australia. The investment in Defence programs by the Australian Government is the perfect platform to readdress the balance in STEM.

Creating opportunities for Returners in STEM but also to influence the DE&I agenda. Too many conversations are focused around one area of diversity but to make a genuine positive change we want STEM to be open and accessible to everyone."

www.stemreturners.com

THE CHALLENGES OF DEEP SPACE HABITATION

The Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR) mission is to support long-term human presence in deep space using the resources we find along the way. This means using resources like water and the lunar regolith (the meters thick layer of lunar dirt covering the surface of the Moon) to provide astronauts with oxygen, drinking water, and propellant, as well as building materials for lunar infrastructure. Using locally sourced resources allows us to reduce costs, increase our exploration activities, and sustainably provide crews with life support replenishment, radiation protection, and enhanced longevity of their various pieces of critical infrastructure brought all the way from the surface of the Earth.

In support of Australian Space Agency contributions to the NASA Artemis program, the ATCSR is partnering with other global leaders in the nascent lunar civil engineering and construction field to provide Australian students, government and industry the first lunar and Martian surface testing capability in Australia. Here, in the heart of Adelaide, high-fidelity testing of individual payloads up to and including complete robotic systems can occur in location specific environments using a full library of specially designed simulants such as lunar mare and highland, Martian equatorial and polar, and asteroid destinations. Located within the Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering School, stateof-the-art research includes how to locally create and construct habitable structures and build landing pads, roads, and berms, which will be required to facilitate the planned aggregation of surface infrastructure required to support NASA’s plans to return humans to the Moon, this time “to stay”.

These research efforts will ultimately support the potential for human communities to flourish elsewhere in the solar system. As a result, the University of Adelaide has created a Deep Space Habitation Group - a professions and social science led team - to better understand the impacts this development could have regarding issues related to governance, health care delivery, psychological support, employment, recreation, law, and architecture. By bringing together thought leaders from numerous nontraditional space disciplines, it provides a rare capability to research complex social science issues emerging from nascent deep space settlement by leveraging the talents of a globally unique interdisciplinary group.

Waite Research Institute (WRI), a global leader in agricultural technology innovation, and its team of cuttingedge researchers is addressing the challenge of ensuring astronauts have dependable access to healthy nutritious food. However, during a multiyear mission, to Mars, the asteroid belt, or beyond, the application of ag-tech solutions to address deep space challenges is not only confined to the provision of food.

Critically, feedback from astronaut partners underscores the dramatic enhancement to social and mental health resulting from the care and growth of living things. In addition, the potential to utilise plants as bio-reactors, growing “on demand” products such as tailored medicines or material for use in additive manufacturing would represent yet another revolutionary enabler for space exploration.

WRI is leading research efforts in support of providing for astronauts physical and mental wellbeing as well as material requirements. Research outcomes will also be of benefit for food production in confined and remote spaces, such as submarines and Antarctic facilities.

All of the above research efforts promise to deliver benefits terrestrially with regard to increasing energy efficiency, transportation, farming, waste reduction, and improvements to human and environmental health.

Whether you are a prospective student wishing to join our space research efforts or industry looking for a cutting-edge partner situated next to Lot 14 and the Australian Space Agency, please contact the ATCSR for more information.

A lunar Highlands brick (left) and a lunar Mare brick – both made from simulants made on campus Rovers competing in the lunar construction challenge at the first ARC 2021