Space Education and Outreach in Ghana
- Paper number
IAC-16,E1,IP,21,x35679
- Coauthor
Mr. EMMANUEL PROVEN- ADZRI, Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute, Ghana
- Year
2016
- Abstract
Ghana is one of the emerging economies in Africa to watch. The establishment of the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI) in 2011 which is coordinating Space activities in Ghana, is making some strides to expand the technology drive through space technology. The GSSTI has been carrying out a lot of space education and outreach to a community that does not think its worth investing in space technology when many fundamental problems still bedevil the country. With the coming on board of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) of which Ghana is an African partner, many opportunities have been opened in radio Astronomy. The GSSTI has been using the radio Astronomy project as a spring board to market space technology. The GSSTI has developed a miniature radio telescope with the help of the South Africans which is being used for outreach to school and universities it has made many students interested in space sciences. The GSSTI in collaboration with the University of Leeds, UK is implementing post-graduate training in Radio Astronomy in Ghana. The purpose of the training programme is building a human capacity in Ghana towards the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project. The training programme is fully funded by the Royal Society of UK. So far the training has seen two cohort of 12 students each making a total of 24 students who have been trained in Radio Astronomy. The satellite application project for Ghana under the GHANASAT LTD has begun with case studies to demonstrate the capability of Radar satellite for the operations of the Environmental Protection Agency, Ports and Harbour Authority, the Forestry Commission and Ghana Maritime Authority. The specific case studies for various sectors of the Ghanaian economy was presented in November 2015. It outlined many spin off technologies that can be accrued. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) of the Institute is currently been used for training purposes. Some agencies that patronised the last training sessions include National security, Ghana Armed Forces, Ghana Air Force, Energy commission, etc. The GSSTI is in a process of establishing a collaboration with Keshe Foundation Spaceship (KFSS) Programme Organisation in space technology applications in Health, Agriculture and Energy. Flagship among it is the treatment of infamous polluted river Pra using Keshe plasma technology. These and many other flagship projects is what the GSSTI is using to woo Ghanaians to invest in Space technology and its many spin-offs.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)