The assemblage was presented to the students of Ballarat College of Advanced Education (BCAE) by a NASA astronaut. The Australian Flag and NASA Astronauts crew patch were flown aboard the Orbiter Atlantis, STS-36, 28 February to 4 March 1990. Astronaut Pierre Thout's first flight was as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-36 which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 28, 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. Following 72 orbits of the Earth in 106 hours, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 4, 1990, after travelling 1.87 million miles. bcae, nasa, space, pierre thuot, creighton, caspar, mullane, hilmers

Doolittle Raid occurred on the 18th April 1942 during WW 2.. The raid was the first air raid by the US Forces on Tokyo and Honshu and the Japanese Archipelago. A special unit of USAAF B25 Mitchell Bombers trained under the command of Col. James Doolittle flew from the carrier USS Hornet. B25 Mitchell Bomber had 2 Radial engines developing 1700 hp. Wingspan of 20.6 metres. Length 16.3 metres. It carried a crew of 4 to 6 personnel and had a range of 2175 kilometres and a bomb payload of 1360 Kgs.Important event of war against Japanese.57 cm x 38.5 cm. Ebonised and Gold frame. Showing B 25 Mitchell bomber taking of from USS Carrier Hornet.Inscribed " Take Off " Doolittle Raid on Tokyo 1942.

Primary historicalWhite, green sleeves, green shamrockbendigo, bhrc, trotting, pacing, race colours, phonse hickey, payload, hunter cup 1959, bendigo pacing cup

On reverse: Four stage solid fuel Scout vehicle and cross section of payload instrumentation. First solid fuel rocket used by N.A.S.A. to launch a satellite on orbital trajectory. Front cap comes off and satellite built of tghin mylar plastic film and aluminium foil emerges and inflates. Radio beacon built in for tracking.alan gardiner collection, space industry, 1960, nasa, rocket, scout solid fuel rocket

During the 1950’s, the growing threat from Submarines, led the Royal Australian Navy to consider a quick reaction, long range ASW torpedo delivery system as an alternative to the USN’s ASROC and the RN’s Match. Full scale research and development began in 1960 using the Turana target drone as the basis for the delivery platform. Shipboard tests began in 1963 and the Government Aircraft Factory (GAF) began production of three variants M3, M4 and M5 in 1965. The M4 variant had a guidance system designed to interface to a full tactical data handling system while the M3 and M5 variants used a simpler system with a dedicated fire control system. The IKARA is an unmanned miniature aircraft with clip on upper and lower stabilizers and wings. The upper stabilizer (SVU) housed and electronic package that transmitted flight data back to the launch platform and received updated target acquisition data during flight. Flight maneuverability was provided by elevons fitted into the trailing edge of each wing, these were operated by an actuator system that received flight correction data transmitted to the autopilot from the fire control system. The payload, either the Mk44 or Mk46 lightweight torpedo was suspended to the underside of the airframe and faired into the body to provide and aerodynamic shape. The forward section of the body housed the autopilot and the thermal battery unit. Propulsion was provided by the MURAWA steel cased, solid propellant rocket motor with a combined boost and sustainer stage. IKARA was capable of engaging a target to the maximum range of the ships sonar, regardless of weather conditions. Target information is fed into the fire control system, which calculated to drop zone for the torpedo taking into account speed and direction of launch platform and target, win speed etc, then tracking the missile to the drop zone where command signals initiate torpedo release. The IKARA is an unmanned miniature aircraft with clip on upper and lower stabilizers and wings. navy, torpedo, rocket, submarine, missile