World class facilities have been established during this period, the most notable of which are the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to the international Square Kilometre Array. They add to the South African Astronomical Observatory and Hartebeesthoek Radio Observatory which existed already.

The National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme has played a vital role in ensuring that these facilities were not simply operated for the benefit of international partners. It has also contributed individuals with crucial data analysis skills to the country’s growing high-tech workforce.

As astronomers who were part of this journey – organisers, contributors and beneficiaries – we are using the 20th anniversary date to reflect on the programme’s impact and its significance for the country.

The history

South Africa’s astronomical history, spanning over 200 years, took a leap in 2000 with the cabinet’s approval for the construction of the Southern African Large Telescope.

Beyond its scientific impact, the idea was to attract and nurture young talent, addressing shortages in scientific and engineering fields in South Africa.

At the time, there were only about 40 astronomers with PhDs in the country. All were white. This was the result of the racially skewed education system during the apartheid era.

In 2001, astronomers began preparing for SALT and future projects. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) emerged as an opportunity to host a big international radio telescope which could, among other things, investigate the beginnings of the Universe. Unfortunately the shortage of South African astronomers posed a threat to the success of the two projects, and to Africa’s participation.

Developing a pipeline

Becoming a professional astronomer requires a PhD in astronomy, physics, or a related subject. It takes about 10 years to qualify after completing secondary school. At that time fewer than 1% of black school leavers qualified to study for a BSc in physics or astronomy.

It became clear that universities needed to start co-operating if the landscape was to change. The country’s small astronomical community was spread across eight universities and two national facilities.

A decision was taken to pool resources to establish the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme. In this way, university lecturers and professionals at the national observatories could all contribute to teaching, while students could choose from a wide range of research projects.

This collaboration, including the organisation that became the South African National Space Agency, focused on guiding students through honours and master’s degrees. It emphasised cooperation over institutional interests and targeted young scientists, especially those from previously disadvantaged communities.

The primary objectives were clear:

• attract students post-Bachelor of Science
• recruit from other countries in Africa
• entice school leavers into BSc physics programmes
• make participation in the programme a selling point for all participating universities.

Bursaries covering basic needs were crucial to attract smart students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Funding from private foundations, particularly from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation and the Canon Collins Trust, added to very basic grants from the National Research Foundation.

Today, the government’s Department of Science and Innovation is the primary funder.

Grants are adequate, rather than generous. Nevertheless, students have developed successful careers through the programme, transforming astronomy and space science in South Africa and beyond.

Programme participant Pfesesani van Zyl said:

The journey to SALT was a truly transformative experience for me … As a child growing up in a small town, the notion of pursuing a career in astronomy seemed like an unattainable dream, especially as a female of colour … However, that visit shattered those limiting beliefs.

As former beneficiary Roger Deane, now a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, put it, the programme was pivotal in

giving us exposure to the leading astronomers in the country … This was extremely helpful in assessing astronomy as a career.

Track record

By mid 2023, the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme had produced 439 honours graduates and 215 master’s degrees in astrophysics and space science. Another 27 honours and 21 master’s students are set to graduate shortly, and similar numbers of students will complete their degrees in 2024.

A 2023 survey of programme graduates had 230 respondents, including 53 graduates from 19 other African countries. The largest numbers were from Uganda, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zambia and Sudan. Many have returned home.

Former participant Miriam Nyamai said:

Collaboration with international researchers through the programme enabled me to do world-class research, attend international conferences, and give talks on my work.

Impact

The impact of the programme’s graduates extends far beyond academia. Many have embarked on successful careers across diverse sectors, including industry, education and government.

Graduates have participated in exciting astronomical discoveries. These include producing the first images of black holes with the Event Horizon Telescope, finding some of the most distant galaxies yet known, and using SALT to investigate the remnants of some very massive binary stars and unusual active black holes at great distances.

Read More: Astronomers finally caught radio waves from 40 large galaxies in the nearby universe

The work of many individuals has been recognised by national and international bodies and programme graduates are in key teaching and research posts in South African universities. Over 30 are employed in the astronomy national facilities and the national space agency, while some have prestigious positions elsewhere in the world. South Africa now has over 200 qualified astronomers, not all of them from the National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme.

Nevertheless, it remains a challenge to fill vacant astronomer posts in South Africa. Many factors contribute to this, including funding, opportunities outside academia, and the lack of clear career paths. The National Astrophysics and Space Science Programme can only ever be part of the solution to these complex systemic problems.

Future directions

The programme has evolved since its establishment. Students now have to navigate extensive volumes of intricate data of different kinds, from various sources. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are indispensable. Students must know what these tools can and cannot do as they push the boundaries of our comprehension. This is a challenge for both students and their mentors.

The main obstacle now lies, as it did 20 years ago, in helping university staff to collaborate across institutions in such a way that their work is recognised and rewarded. This requires senior administrators to understand that inter-university collaborations are an investment in their own institutions as well as in the advancement of South African science.

• Patricia Ann Whitelock is a Former director of SAAO and honorary professor at UCT, South African Astronomical Observatory
• Daniel Cunnama is a Science Engagement Astronomer, South African Astronomical Observatory
• Rosalind Skelton is a SALT Astronomer and Head of Research at the South African Astronomical Observatory, National Research Foundation
• This article first appeared in The Conversation

The post 20 years ago South Africa had 40 qualified astronomers – all white. How it’s opened space science and developed skills since then appeared first on Stuff South Africa.

It’s probably no surprise that keeping healthy in space is incredibly important. And without the typical resources found on Earth, creative solutions have to be explored.

Right now, some excited Year 10 and 11 students from around Victoria are waiting with anticipation as their space-made yoghurt – fresh off the International Space Station (ISS) – heads back to Australia from NASA facilities in the United States.

The students worked with researchers at the Swinburne University of Technology to design an experiment investigating the nutritional values of space-made yoghurt. The results could provide insight into how to best help astronauts with vital nutrition during long-haul spaceflight.

The human gut

A critical factor in human health is the overall health of our gut microbiome, which is estimated to host more than 100 trillion bacteria.

Maintaining the health and diversity of these bacteria might be even more important in space than on Earth. In 2019, NASA released groundbreaking results from a year-long study on astronaut twins Mark and Scott Kelly.

In 2016, Scott spent 365 days on the ISS, experiencing reduced gravity, while Mark remained on Earth. A fascinating result from the study was that Scott experienced significant changes to his gastrointestinal microbiome when in space – and which didn’t persist after he returned to Earth.

It’s theorised the changes in microbiome experienced by astronauts are due to the lack of exposure to the “everyday” microbes encountered on Earth. Additionally, astronauts in space are exposed to less gravity, and high levels of radiation, which increase as they travel further away.

Understanding how to supplement astronauts’ gut bacteria and sustain its health is one of NASA’s current research goals. NASA is exploring this through both the use of capsule probiotics and simulated gravity experiments.

Why yoghurt?

Yoghurt is made by the bacterial fermentation of milk. The lactic acid produced in this process acts on the milk’s proteins to create yoghurt’s signature tart taste and thick texture. We wanted to see how this process is affected in the space environment.

Our student-led experiment is investigating whether different probiotic strains of bacteria can be used to make yoghurt directly in space. The ideal outcome would be to show that healthy, living bacteria cultures can be generated from frozen bacteria and milk products sent to space. This has not yet been achieved, although yoghurt has been made using bacteria returned from space previously.

This would be hugely beneficial during long space flights, where fresh food is limited and typical probiotic capsules would lose potency. Yoghurt also offers the nutritional benefits of the milk the bacteria are feeding off.

Read more: What a simulated Mars mission taught me about food waste

The road to space

Our brilliant students began this journey via two paths. Through the ongoing SHINE program, six exceptional STEM students from Victoria’s Haileybury school worked with Swinburne staff and student mentors to develop, prototype and produce an experiment for the ISS.

In the past, this program has sent human teeth, chia seeds and magnetorheological fluid to the ISS. For the 2021-22 experiment the students had 24 five-millilitre vials (things have to be tiny in space) in which to build their detailed experiment.

The second path was via the inaugural Swinburne Youth Space Innovation Challenge (SYSIC), which provides the opportunity to send an experiment to space as part of the Swinburne/Rhodium Scientific payload.

Teams from four Victorian schools undertook an 11-week crash course in space applications before pitching their dream experiment. The winning team from Viewbank College was assigned six dedicated experimental vials, with all other teams also awarded a vial – all working towards the goal of investigating probiotics, bacteria and yoghurt in space.

Aboard the ISS

Once ready for flight, the final bacteria samples were prepared and put into deep freeze by our Rhodium Scientific partners at the Kennedy Space Centre in the US.

All 33 vials boarded their rideshare to the ISS via the SpaceX Crew Dragon 24, and were launched on December 24. Once onboard, the samples were removed from deep freeze by Astronaut Mark Vande Hei and set aside in a room-temperature experiment chamber in the Japanese Experiment Module, named Kibo.

After the allotted 48- and 72-hour timestamps (the time it takes to typically make yoghurt on Earth) the samples were placed back in deep freeze to preserve the progress. It’s expected they would have become yoghurt during this time.

The samples returned to Earth in late January and will be investigated by staff and students in the coming months, once they return to Australia.

What we might find

The students chose to explore six different bacteria strains mixed together in various combinations, as well as certain strains isolated. With both the space-based experiment and control experiments conducted on Earth, we’ll be able to determine whether the bacteria sent to the ISS were significantly affected by reduced gravity.

Working from the lab at Swinburne, we will use methods such as DNA sequencing to isolate any variations in the genetic makeup of the bacteria, and investigate how many generations (or cell divisions) have occurred in the samples.

The students also purposely designed the experiment to test both dairy and non-dairy milk options, to see the potential differences in nutritional output. But perhaps the most exciting part for all involved will be the final taste test – and finding out if space yoghurt really is out of this world.

• Sara Webb is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology
• Rebecca Allen is a Coordinator Swinburne Astronomy Online | Program Lead of Microgravity Experimentation, Space Technology and Industry Institute, Swinburne University of Technology

This article first appeared on The Conversation.

The post Fresh from the ISS: how a group of high school students is leading an experiment on space-made yoghurt appeared first on Stuff South Africa.