Story highlights<\/h3>\n\nAfrica will launch its first private satellite into space<\/p>\n
It’s been built by schoolgirls<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n CNN<\/span>
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0
\n <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n\n They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions \u2013 to launch Africa\u2019s first private satellite into space in 2019.\n <\/p>\n
\n 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\u2019s poles scanning Africa\u2019s surface.\n <\/p>\n
\n Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture, and food security within the continent.\n <\/p>\n
\n Using the data transmitted, \u201cwe can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future\u201d, explains Bull, a student at Pelican Park High School.\n <\/p>\n
\n\n ![\"South](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/161109193635-medo-girls.jpg?q=x_0,y_63,h_844,w_1500,c_crop\/h_720,w_1280\" "\\"\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n \u201cWhere our food is growing, where we can plant more trees and vegetation and also how we can monitor remote areas,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have a lot of forest fires and floods but we don\u2019t always get out there in time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Information received twice a day will go towards disaster prevention.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s part of a project by South Africa\u2019s Meta Economic Development Organization (MEDO) working with Morehead State University in the US.\n <\/p>\n
\n\nAfrica’s journey to space<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n The girls (14 in total) are being trained by satellite engineers from Cape Peninsula University of Technology, in a bid to encourage more African women into STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).\n <\/p>\n
\n If the launch is successful, it will make MEDO the first private company in Africa to build a satellite and send it into orbit.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cWe expect to receive a good signal, which will allow us to receive reliable data,\u201d declares an enthusiastic Mngqengqiswa, of Philippi High School. \u201cIn South Africa we have experienced some of the worst floods and droughts and it has really affected the farmers very badly.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n\n ![\"By](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/161109195506-medo-girls-2.jpg?q=x_48,y_156,h_860,w_1529,c_crop\/h_720,w_1280\" "\\"\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n Drought and environmental effects from climate change have continued to plague the country in recent years. An El Ni\u00f1o induced drought led to a shortfall of 9.3 million tons in southern Africa\u2019s April 2016 maize production, according to a UN report.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt has caused our economy to drop \u2026 This is a way of looking at how we can boost our economy,\u201d says the young Mngqengqiswa.\n <\/p>\n
\n\n ![\"The](\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/161109164507-teen-girls-design-space-satellite-card.jpg?q=x_3,y_141,h_898,w_1596,c_crop\/h_720,w_1280\" "\\"\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n Initial trials involved the girls programming and launching small CricketSat satellites using high-altitude weather balloons, before eventually helping to configure the satellite payloads.\n <\/p>\n
\n Small format satellites are low cost ways of gathering data on the planet quickly. Tests so far have involved collecting thermal imaging data which is then interpreted for early flood or drought detection.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIt\u2019s a new field for us [in Africa] but I think with it we would be able to make positive changes to our economy,\u201d says Mngqengqiswa.\n <\/p>\n
\n Ultimately, it is hoped the project will include girls from Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda.\n <\/p>\n
\n Mngqengqiswa comes from a single parent household. Her mother is a domestic worker. By becoming a space engineer or astronaut, the teenager hopes to make her mother proud.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cDiscovering space and seeing the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, it\u2019s not something many black Africans have been able to do, or do not get the opportunity to look at,\u201d says Mngqengqiswa.\n <\/p>\n
\n The schoolgirl is right; in half a century of space travel, no black African has journeyed to outer space. \u201cI want to see these things for myself,\u201d says Mngqengqiswa, \u201cI want to be able to experience these things.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Her team mate, Bull agrees: \u201cI want to show to fellow girls that we don\u2019t need to sit around or limit ourselves. Any career is possible \u2013 even aerospace.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>
\n
\n\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Story highlights Africa will launch its first private satellite into space It’s been built by schoolgirls CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions \u2013 to launch Africa\u2019s first private satellite into space in 2019. They are part of a team of high school girls from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7710],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7710"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Africa will launch its first private satellite into space<\/p>\n
It’s been built by schoolgirls<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n \n They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions \u2013 to launch Africa\u2019s first private satellite into space in 2019.\n <\/p>\n \n 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\u2019s poles scanning Africa\u2019s surface.\n <\/p>\n \n Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture, and food security within the continent.\n <\/p>\n \n Using the data transmitted, \u201cwe can try to determine and predict the problems Africa will be facing in the future\u201d, explains Bull, a student at Pelican Park High School.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWhere our food is growing, where we can plant more trees and vegetation and also how we can monitor remote areas,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have a lot of forest fires and floods but we don\u2019t always get out there in time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Information received twice a day will go towards disaster prevention.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s part of a project by South Africa\u2019s Meta Economic Development Organization (MEDO) working with Morehead State University in the US.\n <\/p>\n \n The girls (14 in total) are being trained by satellite engineers from Cape Peninsula University of Technology, in a bid to encourage more African women into STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).\n <\/p>\n \n If the launch is successful, it will make MEDO the first private company in Africa to build a satellite and send it into orbit.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe expect to receive a good signal, which will allow us to receive reliable data,\u201d declares an enthusiastic Mngqengqiswa, of Philippi High School. \u201cIn South Africa we have experienced some of the worst floods and droughts and it has really affected the farmers very badly.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Drought and environmental effects from climate change have continued to plague the country in recent years. An El Ni\u00f1o induced drought led to a shortfall of 9.3 million tons in southern Africa\u2019s April 2016 maize production, according to a UN report.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt has caused our economy to drop \u2026 This is a way of looking at how we can boost our economy,\u201d says the young Mngqengqiswa.\n <\/p>\n \n Initial trials involved the girls programming and launching small CricketSat satellites using high-altitude weather balloons, before eventually helping to configure the satellite payloads.\n <\/p>\n \n Small format satellites are low cost ways of gathering data on the planet quickly. Tests so far have involved collecting thermal imaging data which is then interpreted for early flood or drought detection.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s a new field for us [in Africa] but I think with it we would be able to make positive changes to our economy,\u201d says Mngqengqiswa.\n <\/p>\n \n Ultimately, it is hoped the project will include girls from Namibia, Malawi, Kenya, and Rwanda.\n <\/p>\n \n Mngqengqiswa comes from a single parent household. Her mother is a domestic worker. By becoming a space engineer or astronaut, the teenager hopes to make her mother proud.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cDiscovering space and seeing the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, it\u2019s not something many black Africans have been able to do, or do not get the opportunity to look at,\u201d says Mngqengqiswa.\n <\/p>\n \n The schoolgirl is right; in half a century of space travel, no black African has journeyed to outer space. \u201cI want to see these things for myself,\u201d says Mngqengqiswa, \u201cI want to be able to experience these things.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Her team mate, Bull agrees: \u201cI want to show to fellow girls that we don\u2019t need to sit around or limit ourselves. Any career is possible \u2013 even aerospace.\u201d\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a> Story highlights Africa will launch its first private satellite into space It’s been built by schoolgirls CNN \u00a0\u2014\u00a0 They may be teenagers, but 17-year-old Brittany Bull and 16-year-old Sesam Mngqengqiswa have grand ambitions \u2013 to launch Africa\u2019s first private satellite into space in 2019. They are part of a team of high school girls from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7710],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7710"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37870\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n
\n CNN<\/span>
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0
\n <\/cite>\n<\/p>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\nAfrica’s journey to space<\/h5>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n\u0623\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"