Xref: utzoo sci.space:20412 sci.space.shuttle:5621
Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!munnari.oz.au!metro!natmlab.dap.csiro.au!ditsyda!lindley
From: lindley@ditsyda.oz (Craig.Lindley)
Newsgroups: sci.space,sci.space.shuttle
Subject: Re: space news from April 2 AW&ST
Message-ID: <2626@ditsyda.oz>
Date: 29 May 90 23:55:36 GMT
References: <1990May18.081501.968@melba.bby.oz.au>
Organization: CSIRO DIT Sydney, Australia
Lines: 44

in article <1990May18.081501.968@melba.bby.oz.au>, gnb@bby.oz.au (Gregory N. Bond) says:
> Xref: ditsyda sci.space:8690 sci.space.shuttle:1125
> In-Reply-To: henry@utzoo.uucp's message of 14 May 90 03:41:07 GMT
> 
> In article <1990May14.034107.11219@utzoo.uucp> henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) writes:
> 
>    White House is dithering on whether to let United Technologies Corp's
>    USBI division get involved in managing the Cape York spaceport.  The
>    problem is that although the spaceport would be in Australia and
>    manned by Australians, they'd be using Soviet boosters.
> 
> Well, the security guards and the cleaners might be Australians.   I
> doubt thant any of the "key" personnel would be; we have no space
> industry to build experience and no uni degrees in space engineering.
> 
> (There is some reasonable aero expertise - last week the last of 72
> FA-18s was assembled locally - would that count??)
> --
> Gregory Bond, Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
> Internet: gnb@melba.bby.oz.au    non-MX: gnb%melba.bby.oz@uunet.uu.net
> Uucp: {uunet,pyramid,ubc-cs,ukc,mcvax,prlb2,nttlab...}!munnari!melba.bby.oz!gnb
iThe proposal is to train Australian technicians in the appropriate Zenit
kit building techniques and spacecraft integration in the USSR. The Zenits
are built for very quick and simple preparation, and are intended to arrive
in this country in a substantially finished form. I think the figure was
about two weeks from unpacking from the crates to readiness for payload
integration. This work is to be completely performed by Australian
technicians.

Uni. degrees in space engineering are not necesary. All of the expertise is
already present in Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, and Computer
engineering courses, etc.. Australian industry has all of the technical
skills necessary to construct space systems. All that we lack is the
political motivation. Space engineering is an exotic application for some
fairly standard technologies.

Craig Lindley
CSIRO DIT
lindley@ditsyda.oz

-- 
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Craig Lindley       ( lindley@ditsyda.oz )
CSIRO Division of Info. Tech., Sydney.