From 19471970 Woomera was an important centre

Woomera (including Pimba, Nurrungar and Arcoona) Famous outback township which, from the 1940s, was the centreof Australian and British rocket launching experimentsLocated 486 km north of Adelaide (180 km north of Port Augusta) andpositioned some 165 m above sea level, Woomera is a purpose builttown designed by the Long Range Weapons Board of Administration toprovide an isolated experimental ground for testing rockets. It islocated in the middle of a desert terrain where the average annualrainfall is only 190 mm. The visitor enters Woomera via Pimba whichis little more than a rather old style roadhouse, pub and servicestation near the railway line. The old rolling stock and age of theroadhouse give Pimba a rather antiquated appearance. Woomera, the word describes a short stick used to launch a spearin the language of the local Aborigines, came into existence in1947. At the time it was preferred over a site which had beennominated by Canada. In 1946 the Australian government received aformal request from Britain to establish a rocket range 1600 kmlong and 300 km wide. This was possible given the vast wastelandswhich existed in northwestern South Australia. The decision to build a rocket range was made in the postwarenvironment when the world was still recovering from the slaughterof World War 11. As a result of German rocket attacks on Britainduring that war the British had decided they needed a rockettesting range and the isolation of Woomera combined with itsproximity to the railway siding at Pimba made it an ideallocation. Advertisement: Story continues below In June 1946 the first Dakota landed on the first temporaryairstrip. A regular RAAF courier service was inaugurated whichprovided travel, food, mail and supplies for people who werebuilding the range. On 1 April 1947 Arcoona Rosetta Stone Chinese leased the land to theDepartment of Defence and the Woomera village was surveyed andbuilt. From 19471970 Woomera was an important centre. Throughout the1950s and 1960s a number of rockets were launched culminating inthe launching of the Prospero satellite in 1969. Today there is a real feeling of decay as you enter the town.The first sight to strike the visitor is three blocks of unitswhich have been left unoccupied as the town has contracted in size.At its peak Woomera had a population of over 5000. Today it has apopulation of a little over 1900 and probably half of those peopleare US military personnel working at nearby Nurrungar. At the moment Woomera is a base used to support Australian armedservice and the US Air Force. NASA and West Germany are launching aseries of sounding rockets to gather data from the Supernova. Thisis part of a ten year cooperative agreement between NASA, The Department of Industry, Technology and Commerce. The Woomera TestRange is operated by Defence Research Centre in Salisbury SA. The official literature declares that Nurrungar is a joint US Australian Ground Station, that it is located 19 km from Woomera,and that it is not open to the public Things to see: Woomera Aircraft and Missile Park and Heritage Centre The main attraction in Woomera is the excellent Lions Club of Woomera Aircraft and Missile Park and the Woomera Heritage Centre. The Woomera Heritage Centre is open from 9.30 to 4.30 from March to November and closed December to February. It is part of theWoomera Board Project. Telephone number: (08) 8673 7810. It has asuperb collection of Aboriginal artefacts from the area as well asa comprehensive display of rocket technology and 'artefacts' fromthe more recent past. Outside the building are well preserved examples of most of therockets which were launched at Woomera. There's the Black Arrow, a large rocket which was launched fourtimes from June 1969 to October 1972. The first launch wasdestroyed almost immediately because it was unstable. The secondand third launches were experimental firings. The fourth put aProspero satellite into orbit and the satellite is still circlingthe earth. There's a superb Meteor Mark 7 a British jet aircraft which wasused against German V1 rockets.

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