African scientists aim for the moon

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Cape Town – African scientists have three months to add their input to the mission objectives of the African2Moon mission, which plans to send a spacecraft designed and built in Africa to the Moon within a decade. The innovative lunar project, announced late last year, is the brainchild of the Foundation for Space Development South Africa, a non-profit Cape Town organisation established in 2009 to advance the country’s awareness of space. The mission made global headlines after it started an online crowdfunding drive, raising more than R300 000. In Cape Town on Friday, mission organisers launched a call for scientific proposals to help identify future scientific objectives of the mission. “The call is open to participation by individual and entities worldwide. Proposal teams may include team members from any country, with the condition that at least half of the team members must be domiciled in Africa,” said Professor Peter Martinez, programme convener for the space studies programme at UCT.

Martinez is the mission administrator for the Africa2Moon mission.

He said the proposals could investigate any question of space or lunar science.

“We are soliciting innovative mission concepts that could be achievable with the skills, capacities and resources currently in place in Africa,” he said, speaking at the Cape Town Science Centre in Observatory.

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Africa2Moon website by June 30, and must include elements of educational and public outreach.

All proposals will be reviewed by a committee of African and international experts between July and October.

This committee will then announce a shortlist for further study in November.

Jonathan Weltman, Africa2Moon’s chief executive, previously described the lunar mission as a a “big hairy audacious goal”.

“The huge leap is the idea that Africa can drag itself out of its rather dire situation by starting to talk about space exploration, by talking about ambition and exploration,” he said earlier in the year.

The mission’s long-term objective is to inspire a new generation of African scientists.

* To submit a proposal, visit africa2moon.developspacesa.org/call/

Weekend Argus