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Africa will launch its first private satellite into space
It’s been built by schoolgirls
(CNN) —
They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions – to launch Africa’s first private satellite into space in 2019.
They are part of a team of high school girls from Cape Town, South Africa, who have designed and built payloads for a satellite that will orbit over the earth’s poles scanning Africa’s surface.
Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture and food security within the continent.
Using the data transmitted, “we can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future”, explains Bull, a student at Pelican Park High School.
Coursey Karl Schoemaker
South Africa’s program aims to encourage girls into STEM, particularly astronomy. Less than 10% of young women are interested in STEM subjects.
“Where our food is growing, where we can plant more trees and vegetation, and also how we can monitor remote areas,” she says. “We have a lot of forest fires and floods, but we don’t always get out there in time.”
Information received twice a day will go towards disaster prevention.
It’s part of South Africa’s Meta Economic Development Organization (MEDO) project working with Morehead State University in the US.
Photos: Africa’s journey to space
PHOTO:
Courtesy SKA
Africa has been slow to embark on space travel. But new projects on the continent look promising. South Africa’s ambitious Square Kilometer Array project aims to build the world’s most giant radio telescope to help scientists paint a detailed picture of some of the deepest reaches of outer space.
Pictured here: a composite image of the MeerKAT and Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) satellites.
Photos: Africa’s journey to space
PHOTO:
Courtesy of SPDO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions
South Africa’s Karoo desert will be home to the Square Kilometer Array, a cluster of 3,000 satellite dishes working in tandem over a square kilometer area.
Photos: Africa’s journey to space
PHOTO:
Courtesy SKA
The SKA is an international affair, and its headquartered in the UK, while the telescope itself has a “dual site” location in Australia and South Africa.
Africa’s participation in the project will be ramped up by distant stations situated in Botswana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zambia.
