African space science initiative gets the nod
NRF news
An initiative to combine the existing space science activities in South Africa
into a coherent and holistic approach has been embraced by the Board of the NRF
for testing in a wider forum.
As a result, the concept of an African Institute of Space Science (AISS) is
now being tested more widely here and in neighbouring countries. The concept has
already been welcomed by a significant number of potential stakeholders from
areas ranging from basic space sciences (such as astrophysics and space physics)
to the more applied space sciences (such as satellite engineering). It was also
well received by participants at the 10th United Nations/European Space Agency
Workshop on Basic Space Science, held in July 2001 in Mauritius.
"The creation of an African Institute of Space Science would be one step
taken towards ensuring that Africa will be an active participant when decisions
about the uses of near-Earth space and about the solar system are taken,"
says Dr Peter Martinez of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), one
of the driving forces behind the AISS.
South Africa has a regulatory body governing a wide range of space science
and space-related activities, but no national coordinating body promoting the
development of space science and technology. The AISS would unite the present
disparate activities into a nationally coordinated structure, which could
benefit the entire region.
The idea for the AISS originated in January 2001 at a workshop arranged by
the NRF for astronomers and space scientists to discuss the future of astronomy
and space science in South Africa. The participants were challenged to devise a
bold vision for the future, with a more holistic approach to space science, and
with greater emphasis on the societal benefits of space science.
One of the emerging themes of the workshop was that greater South-South
collaboration should be encouraged, and that South Africa should strengthen its
scientific and technological ties with the rest of the continent in the domain
of space science. A joint regional effort could lead to a coordinated strategy
to harness space science for the development of Africa without crippling
investments for any individual country.
Benefits
The Institute would facilitate and promote space science research and
applications for exclusively peaceful purposes that address the development
needs of the region.
In addition to the usual satellite applications such as meteorology and remote
sensing, the potential practical applications of space for development in Africa
are immense.
Practical benefits would arise as spin-offs from programmes conducted by the
AISS, and also from technology transfer with the space industry or similar
organisations elsewhere in the world.
High-bandwidth communication by satellites brings many benefits, like radical
improvements in the delivery of health services and education, and quality
education at remote locations. Satellite navigation systems would benefit
economic development and tourism in many African countries. South Africa is
ideally placed to play a leading role in using space applications to establish
an African reference frame, and to coordinate the development of space geodesy
on the continent. To take advantage of existing assets, a distributed structure
is proposed for the AISS, with a number of operational centres, drawn from
existing facilities, serving as key nodes, and utilised by a number of research
units, comprising smaller teams of researchers working in different focus areas.
Linkages with industry are envisaged.
-NRF News, www.nrf.ac.za
For more information on the AISS, contact Dr Peter Martinez at tel: (021)
447-0025; email: peter@saao.ac.za.
A demonstration of how pure and applied space science can share infrastructure
and complement each other is the large radio dish in the 26-m radio telescope at
the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory ( www.HartRAO.ac.za). Although
this instrument is now used for astronomy and geodesy, it was originally a
station of NASA's Deep Space Network. In the distance is a mobile satellite
laser ranging facility operated by HartRAO in collaboration with NASA. In the
foreground is a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver antenna. The
co-location of these three different types of instruments makes HartRAO an
important global point for the calibration of these different systems.
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