It is 21century and Kenya is yet to advance its technology on space exploration and astronomy. Most specifically, visiting the moon. Moon is one of the many major wonders to human beings across the globe, it is always on the poets pen if not in the wonder of the eyes of a great onlookers. Importantly it will be at the heart of two lovers weaving their way of love through the land of romance.
NASA is yet to do another wonder of the moon landing by landing the first woman and man of color at the side of the moon no one else has ever done, that is at the south pole of the moon. This comes under the project Artemis.
Just like me you might be wondering why is the project named Artemis, according to NASA the first mission taking astronauts to the moon which had sent spasm of joy across the world in 1969 was named the Apollo program. The program and project become a success on 20th of July 1969 with Neil Armstrong being the first Human to have walked in the moon. That program was named after a god of Greek mythology, Apollo. Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister and the goddess of the moon in Greek mythology. So to pinpoint, NASA want to attribute the success of the first mission to this one.
According to NASA, their new Rocket space launch system (SLS) is the most powerful rocket ever in the world. It will carry the Orion spacecraft with up to four astronauts riding to lunar orbit. The astronauts will then dock Orion at a small spaceship called gateway. This is where the Astronauts will prepare for their mission to the moon and beyond. NASA further informs that the crew will take trips from the Gateway to the lunar surface in a new human Landing system and then return to Gateway. When their work is done, their return to Earth will be on board on Orion.
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Going to the moon requires proper prior planning, one mishap could be a journey of eternity and of no return. NASA says that before Apollo put the first human on the moon, first Apollo missions had launched several times to test the rocket and equipment. The drill will also be the same for Artemis, before carrying crew to the moon, NASA will test the rocket and spacecraft in flight then send the crew got a test flight. Artemis-1 will be a test flight of the SLS rocket with Orion spacecraft with no crew. Artemis-2 will fly SLS and Orion with crew past moon, then circle it and return to Earth. NASA says this will be the farthest any human has gone into the space. Artemis-3 will send crew with the first woman and the next man to land on the moon.
You will wonder what will the astronauts do while on the moon, Artemis-3 crew will visit the South pole where no one has ever been there. At the moon these Astronauts will search for the moon water and use it, study the moon to discover it’s mysteries, learn how to live and work on the surface of another celestial body where Astronauts are just three days away from home and then they will test the technologies needed before sending the astronauts on missions to Mars, which can take up to three years round-trip.
Kenya has not been actively involved in matters space exploration and astronomy but has been partially supportive towards it. As of 2022, the country had shown interests in developing it’s space capabilities with initiatives like the establishment of the Kenyan space Agency (KSA) in the 2017. Mainly this body was created to coordinate and regulate space-related activities in the country. The major milestone for this Agency came on 15th of April 2023 when it launched it’s ever first operational satellite into the space. The satellite that was developed by nine Kenyan engineers was expected to collect data on Agriculture and Environment including floods, drought and wildfire, this would be used by authorities for disaster management and to combat food insecurity.
Captain Alloyce Were, an aeronautical engineer and deputy director of Navigation and positioning at the government-run Kenya Space Agency spoke about the expectations four hours after the satellite was launched.
“We have challenges that have been brought about by climate change, with the satellite by virtue of being able to capture images (will be able to monitor), we can monitor forest changes, we can monitor urbanization changes,” he said.
Aside from this, on astronomy Kenya has several observatories and institutions involved in promoting the space study. The East African Astronomical Society (EAAS) and the African Initiative for Planetary and Space science (AFIPS). It remains as factor that Kenya still has a long way to go when it came to space and celestial bodies studies.
The closest we have ever been is collaborating with Countries that have had a success in landing on the moon with the latest being India who become the 4th country to execute a controlled landing on the moon on 14th of July 2023.
While expressing his happiness, high commissioner of India Namgya Khampa had highlighted on collaborating with Africa Countries including Kenya to share knowledge on space exploration.
“The successful launch of our third moon mission, Chandrayaan-3, has generated tremendous excitement in India. It follows an Earliest attempt to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface. We see it as moment of milestone in India’s space program. The India aerospace is coming of age and promises tremendous dividends for development and growth, based on low-cost high-impact technology innovation,” Khampa said.
Kenya and India had previous collaborations in the sector, with Defence CS Aden Duale in June announcing the two states being engaged in a bilateral discussions to explore space collaborations opportunities.
That said and done, innovations and growth takes time and resources while Kenyan keep striding towards the horizon, NASA says the moon is a good place to learn new science. The moon is a test bed for Mars, it is a place to prove that a technology or idea will work. It is a place to to demonstrate that astronauts will one day be able to work say from Earth on Mars for long period of time.
NASA says it’s working with businesses and companies to create new technology for Artemis missions. They will work on Artemis to bring the world together for a mission to the space and profound new space Adventures.
