Blast Off

Dr Ken McCracken was founding chief of the CSIRO Division of Mineral Physics in Sydney, and Director of the CSIRO Office of Space Science and applications, until his retirement in 1989. He now combines life as a beef grazier with work as a private consultant to the minerals exploration industry, working from his home near Bowral in NSW.

Ken McCracken Ken McCracken participated in the heady, early days of space exploration when scientists were almost daily making startling exploration when scientists were almost daily making startling discoveries about space, out atmosphere and the effects of the Sun on Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere.