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Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon - Science/Technology - Nairaland

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Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by Islie: 7:08am On Sep 27, 2019
Just like the United States, Russia, China and other advanced countries that have taken space technology seriously, Nigeria is equally exploring the possibility of keying into what has now become a goldmine. The future and economy in the 21st Century is knowledge-based and technology-driven. So, to catch up with other countries, Nigeria must learn fast enough.

For the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), a Nigerian astronaut will not just be going there for show but for a micro-gravity research, basically on food security and some peculiar diseases of interest to Nigeria and the African race.

NASRDA said Nigerian astronauts can find out how hybrid food peculiar to the country can be gotten faster. Crystal growth, which is found in space can also be used by them to make things such as aircraft engine, rocket nozzle and rocket engine, among others, which can be done in space because they are usually combined on earth where there is gravity pulling them. But in space, there is low gravity so they form differently; you study what happens here and there.

Director, Engineering and Space Systems of the agency, Prof. Olufemi Agboola said: “You know their properties very well; then you can begin to make your own.”

Head, Media and Corporate Communications of the agency, Dr. Felix Ale said Nigeria is working seriously on sending astronauts to the moon.
“It is our desire to produce an astronaut for this country and the purpose is to go to the moon and carry out an experiment that will be of great benefit to the country”, Ale said.

However, the Acting Director-General of the Agency, Mr. Jonathan Angulu, said from all indications, Nigeria is far behind in achieving its dream.

According to him, the biggest concern of the agency is to see how it can get the Assembling Integration and Test Centre (AITC) completed because that will guide them towards greater achievements in space technology.

Angulu added: “We also need to ensure that our ground station keeps running. Unfortunately, most of the equipment we have are obsolete and we are trying to see how we can upgrade them. The Federal Executive Council, 10 years ago, approved the project (Assembling Integration and Test Centre), civil work and the equipment was supposed to run simultaneously.”

Prof. Agboola also revealed that the cost of achieving the dream is enormous because it is cheaper to take a satellite to space than to take human beings. Satellites, he said, do not have to breathe when it gets there and if it gets crushed or spoilt, it can be replaced while humans cannot be replaced.

He added that for humans to go to space, more time will be spent training them and the cost of the training to survive space and the journey to space is more expensive than sending a satellite there. Also, astronauts are preferred to be high level scientists or engineers and must know how to fly. So, it’s going to be a handshake between pilots in the Air Force, scientists and engineers.

Currently, Nigeria’s satellites in space are Nigeria Sat 1, which is an earth observation satellite that observes the earth. It has cameras on it to look down on earth and can cover the whole Nigeria in a few passes. It is there in space and comes back every day and it can be gotten to revisit something and see what has happened in one week or a month and has a history of what has happened. That is called scientific data that can be used to predict things that will happen, using mathematical regression to predict what can happen in 100 years.

When there is warfare by the military, it is used for the purpose as well. For instance, when there was a coup in Mali, some of Nigerian satellites took pictures to help the military.

Another is the Nigeria Sat X, which was built by Nigerian engineers. Then the Nigeria Sat 2, which has a higher resolution. It can see more clearly than Sat 1, meaning that it can see things that are smaller. When the resolution of the lens of a satellite is not very clear, it can only see big things. So, Sat X is good for security.
Then we have a class of satellite which is the communication satellite which is in NICOMSAT.

This generates money because it does broadcasting, internet passes through it, even phone services too. It has payload that can be used to communicate but there are different classes of satellite that have not been explored.

One of these is the Synthetic Aperture Reader Satellite, which does not know about cloud or darkness. It can see through it all but it costs more and requires more technology.

The agency said these are the new set of satellites that Nigeria is considering to begin work on.

The agency’s spokesman, Dr. Ale also said its activities in the area of security cannot be 100 per cent disclosed.

“We have generated a lot of data on road construction. With our satellites, we are able to determine where bridges and culverts are to be located. And we can provide data on the locations of bad roads in the country. These have been provided to universities which have assisted in the area of capacity building.

“We use space agency in the area of agriculture. In the Southwest, we have used it in collecting data in the area of deforestation, on the eco-system in the Niger Delta and the menace of erosion in the Eastern part of the country. These have been made available to state governors to guide them on how to proffer solutions for their peculiar needs.”

He also said the Assembling Integration and Testing Centre (AITDC) is like a hub for the launch of satellite, which he said is still on 30 per cent completion. He added that the agency was relying on government’s release of funds, stressing that it’s the determination of the agency to design and launch satellites here in Nigeria.

Continuing, the spokesman said the agency had been able to train its personnel, stressing that some of its engineers were trained outside the country. According to him, the engineers can design and launch satellite.

He cited an instance during the launch of Nigeria Sat 2 when the agency came up with a model code-named Nigeria Sat X. The model, he said, was solely designed and manufactured by Nigerian engineers using facilities provided by the agency’s technical partners in the United Kingdom, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited.
Dr. Ale further stated that the satellite was meant to be a model but that when the management saw the efforts the local engineers put into the design, the agency decided to launch it in Russia, alongside Nigeria Sat 2, which it claimed is still in orbit.

According to him, NICOMSAT was deorbited because the solar panel had problems and it was replaced with NICOMSAT 1 R; the ‘R’ meaning replacement at no extra cost to Nigeria. He said it has since been commercialised and is being managed by NICOMSAT Limited, which also manages all the agency’s satellite facilities.


https://thenationonlineng.net/nigeria-set-to-join-us-others-to-explore-the-moon-2/

2 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by adewest1999(m): 7:11am On Sep 27, 2019
grin you must be kidney me................wetin concern agbero with overload

42 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by joshjc(m): 7:15am On Sep 27, 2019
What kind of joke,no be only moon na mars

100 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by dokyOloye: 7:17am On Sep 27, 2019
Una never chop belleful,na moon una wan go

141 Likes 8 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by MASTERCHIEF0847(m): 7:18am On Sep 27, 2019
Wishful thinking from a country that cannot provide itself with electricity.

140 Likes 8 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by ContentedK: 7:19am On Sep 27, 2019
I swear nigeria is the most stupid contraption I’ve known

95 Likes 5 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by eTECTIV: 7:19am On Sep 27, 2019

a Nigerian astronaut will not just be going there for show but for a micro-gravity research, basically on food security and some peculiar diseases of interest to Nigeria and the African race.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin grin Dis has got to b d joke of d century.. U are talking of leaving earth dat has all forms of life to go to d moon to carry out research on food security and peculiar diseases? Seriously dis is exactly why we have refused to develop like others, we have daft ppl in positions. On earth here where u have fertile lands, water and everything need to develop agriculture and ensure food security especially in Africa U haven't been able to.

90 Likes 8 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by sotall(m): 7:21am On Sep 27, 2019
Nigeria among grin grin grin

To do what exactly?

Maybe to propagate RUGA in the moon

39 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by Donlamzy(m): 7:21am On Sep 27, 2019
Which kind expensive joke be that? To go and do what exactly?
Na for middle of the road fuel go finish inside the rocket grin grin

47 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by Nobody: 7:21am On Sep 27, 2019
Lamoo

10 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by Nobody: 7:21am On Sep 27, 2019
No be lie!!!

53 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by Badmod: 7:21am On Sep 27, 2019
National Space Research and Development Agency ...This is the type of Agency I'd love to be the director, knowing fully well we're not doing anything...
We just collect money and sleep for house.
Once in a while we dish out dumb stories like this to stir up our relevance...
Good riddance to unproductive Agency.

97 Likes 3 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by ERORR404(m): 7:22am On Sep 27, 2019
Have they finished exploring poverty, sambisa, electricity, insecurity, hunger, dilapidated education, bad roads, corruption, nepotism?

21 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by JeffreyLiaison(m): 7:22am On Sep 27, 2019
Lemme just be laughing

6 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by StrikeBack(m): 7:22am On Sep 27, 2019
All this ones dey find money.
Wetin black Nigerian wan go do for moon?

Establish RCCG branch??

Very useless country running with blockhead leaders

52 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by ChasePr(m): 7:22am On Sep 27, 2019
Ok
Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by maberry(m): 7:22am On Sep 27, 2019
Please It is too early in the day for such expensive jokes

29 Likes 1 Share

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by spartan50(m): 7:22am On Sep 27, 2019
Abeg explore Nigeria first before you go moon. That's not our problem please

10 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by TwentyOnePilots(m): 7:23am On Sep 27, 2019
Which Moon !? angry

3 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by edeXede: 7:23am On Sep 27, 2019
sotall:
Nigeria among grin grin grin

To do what exactly?

Maybe to propagate RUGA in the moon

Bros, hiding stolen funds in Nigeria is already casted. Them thieves don dey reason moon sharp sharp. Ba lo ko si, no time cheesy

7 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by arantess: 7:23am On Sep 27, 2019
Person wey house dey burn no suppose pursue rat oo

3 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by daniska3yaro(m): 7:24am On Sep 27, 2019
You never build infrastructure for Nigeria,busy body wan make you go moon

4 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by pTomz(m): 7:24am On Sep 27, 2019
am still trying to get what concerns us with the moon at this period

11 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by Nobody: 7:24am On Sep 27, 2019
this one na opportunity for politicians to borrow our 100yrs budget say Dem one go moon. I talk am say them go sell this country one day

6 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by oluwasegun007(m): 7:26am On Sep 27, 2019
TwentyOnePilots:
Which Moon !? angry


Moonsun center....

7 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by kingkuntaval: 7:27am On Sep 27, 2019
Great sarcasm

16 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by helinues: 7:27am On Sep 27, 2019
Hahahaha FG wan RUGALISE Moon.. grin grin

10 Likes

Re: Nigeria Set To Join US, Others To Explore The Moon by walexrem(m): 7:27am On Sep 27, 2019
This is a good move Sha. But comity of nations that are making waves don't give room to sentiment.
We must first remove our sentiments and bias in this country for us to achieve meaningful endeavors

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