South Africa helps NASA monitor flights
2022.11.08 12:47
South Africa helps NASA monitor flights
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – NASA officials announced on Tuesday that a brand-new deep-space ground station that is being constructed in the semi-desert Karoo region of South Africa will be operational by 2025 to assist in tracking historic missions to the moon and beyond.
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is aiming for this month for an inaugural launch of its next-generation rocket ship through its Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman or person of color on the moon by 2025. This launch has been delayed for weeks by technical issues and bad weather.
Badri Younes, manager of NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) unit and deputy associate administrator, stated, “We should expect to launch the first flight of Artemis next week.”
According to Younes’ statement to Reuters, “It won’t be until 2025 where we are going to send the third Artemis and the third Artemis will land astronauts on the moon, and… the first person to land on the moon (this time) is going to be a woman of color.”
At a signing ceremony in the small village of Matjiesfontein, 237 kilometers (147 miles) north of Cape Town, Younes stated, “This is going to be one of three stations supporting the communication with all of our astronauts in and around the moon and providing viable services to our entire Moon to Mars programme.”
Only the third primary site being developed globally, Matjiesfontein will join a network of other ground stations in Australia and the United States. According to officials, the station will help improve coverage and redundancy for crucial mission support to the moon, Mars, and beyond. Designed with an array of antennae, it will include a three-storey, 20 meter (22 yard) diameter dish that NASA is purchasing.
The station will be built, operated, and maintained by the South African National Space Agency (SANSA).
The remote location was chosen because it was close to important transportation and communication infrastructure, had clear skies, and had low radio interference.
As part of the government’s investment in constructing its space infrastructure and research base, South Africa has committed an initial 70 million rand, or $3.93 million, to constructing the communications and infrastructure required to prepare the site.
Phil Mjwara, director general of South Africa’s department of science and innovation, stated, “NASA would not come to South Africa if they did not feel that we have capacities to do the work in partnership with them.”
