The Grow Grenfell Group
INSPIRATION4SPACE
From Dubbo to Space: The Journey of Grenfell’s Boomerang
In 2021, a small boomerang crafted in Dubbo took an extraordinary journey, one that reached all the way to space.
The idea began over coffee in Sydney. Long-time friends Jeff and Susie were catching up with Langley Proctor and his wife Caroline. Langley, an American with close ties to Grenfell, was preparing to fly to the U.S. to support his sister, Dr. Sian Proctor, in the final stages of astronaut training. Sian was soon to launch with the all-civilian Inspiration4 crew aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, making history as part of the world’s first private orbital spaceflight.
As they sat together, the friends wondered: could something from Grenfell make it aboard the mission? The thought of sending a symbolic object into orbit was exciting, but time was short and the crew’s payload had already been approved.
Despite the challenge, they moved quickly. Within days, they connected with Lewis Burns, a respected Indigenous artist from Dubbo, who agreed to craft and paint a boomerang. Thanks to Lewis’s creativity and generosity, the piece was completed and rushed back to Sydney just in time for Langley to carry it to the U.S.
On 16 September 2021, the Grenfell boomerang joined Dr. Sian Proctor and the Inspiration4 crew as they blasted into orbit. For three days, they circled the Earth every 90 minutes, an achievement later recorded in the Guinness World Records as the first all-civilian crewed spaceflight.
When the mission concluded with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean, the boomerang began its journey home. Back in Sydney, Jeff and Susie worked with Sophie Brown Framing and Conservation to preserve it in a museum-grade frame, ensuring the story of its remarkable voyage would be shared for years to come.
Today, the framed boomerang is exhibited at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory, Murriyang, where it continues to inspire visitors. This project was never just about the object, it was about community, connection, and the idea that remarkable things can happen when people come together.
Special thanks go to Lewis Burns for his artistry, Langley and Sian Proctor for their generosity, the Inspiration4 crew for embracing the mission, and the team at CSIRO Parkes Observatory for helping share this unique piece of Grenfell’s story with the world.
