Some more background to my poster 'A colonial space: women and rockets in Australia', for the Space Science in Context conference. This poster is also a contribution to the @UNOOSA #Space4Women program to increase the participation of women and girls in space #SSiC2020

Today I'm tweeting from Wiradjuri country, but usually I live in Kaurna country. I would like to pay my respects to Wiradjuri and Kaurna Elders past and present, and extend that respect to other Indigenous nations. #SSiC2020

Until recently, rockets in Australia meant the Woomera rocket range, located in South Australia and established in 1947. This is what most people might think of as the 'outback'. Woomera is one of the oldest rocket launch sites in the world. https://images.app.goo.gl/EQ3AKR95vQVeQEoE7 #SSiC2020

'Outback' and 'desert' aren't the only ways to look at the landscape of Woomera. It's also Aboriginal country - Kokatha, Pitjantjatjara and many others. This complex country is bound up with the Seven Sisters (Pleiades). #SSiC2020

I could attempt to tell you the story of the Seven Sisters as I've heard and read it - but in fact this isn't the story, because 'story' isn't an adequate concept to encompass the way knowledge is constituted in Aboriginal societies. #SSiC2020

This video, from a National Library of Australia exhibition about the Seven Sisters in 2017, gives you a flavour of how they are entangled in country #SSiC2020 #Woomera https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10155050866402005

This country around Woomera is where the UK and Australian governments signed an agreement to develop weapons on rockets in the 1940s. Space was a secondary consideration. https://images.app.goo.gl/3Nqy32dYEKgZCbza7 #SSiC2020

When the Woomera rocket range was proposed, a whole range of peace activists, unionists, communists, women's groups and Aboriginal activists mounted a huge nationwide protest. Two prominent protesters were Doris Blackburn and Margaret Tucker. #SSiC2020 #Space4Women

Australian women's first encounters with space were not as scientists, but as protestors. In the 1940s, women were definitely meant to stay in the kitchen while the men got on with the science. #SSiC2020 #Space4Women

Doris Blackburn didn't stay in the kitchen - she got out there campaigning for women's rights and Aboriginal rights. Find out more about her here: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/blackburn-doris-amelia-9517 #SSiC2020 #Space4Women

The extraordinary Wiradjuri woman Margaret Tucker was part of the stolen generations. In the 1930s, she was one of the founders of the first Aboriginal-led rights groups. In the 1940s, the anti-Woomera protests were a major campaign for them #SSiC2020 #Space4Women

Find out more about Margaret Tucker and her role in gaining recognition for Aboriginal rights here http://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/tucker-margaret-elizabeth-auntie-marge-1556. You can also hear her talk in the documentary Lousy Little Sixpence - Part 1 here: #SSiC2020 #Space4Women

Got to go and cook dinner! I'll be joining the Space Science in Context conference soon if you have any questions and were lucky enough to get a place! #SSiC2020

All of the protests about building a weapons testing facility on Aboriginal country were not successful. It was the Cold War and Australia wanted to prevent communists from SE Asia invading the country. Woomera was built and the rockets flew. #SSiC2020