Sri Lanka, not too far behind in the space race:

Good news for space buffs

by Sajitha PREMATUNGE

Who would have thought that the small midwestern kid who played baseball in the backyard would one day walk on the moon. But in July 1969, on a day like tomorrow, the commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words are forever etched in our minds - 'That's one small step for man, One giant leap for mankind'.

How many potential Armstrongs do you think Sri Lanka is home to? As a matter of fact Sri Lanka has already produced over 100 hundred scientists over the decades - that includes the likes of Dr. Sarath Gunapala, who developed the Mars Land Rover camera - working for the development of astronomy and space science applications in various institutions, such as NASA, around the globe.

But without the support of a curriculum that encourages and fuels space enthusiasm, producing such experts in the field has proven rather difficult. But if we are to be on par with the rest of the countries in the region, doing so is of vital importance.

"The introduction has been a rather long process" explained Prof. Chandana Jayaratne, Senior Lecturer in Physics, University of Colombo and Consultant to the Space Applications Division, Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies, University of Moratuwa. "It took long enough to convince people that we need to launch our own satellite." He further explained that we were used to obtaining our data from the satellites of other countries. But Sri Lanka and Maldives are the only countries that are behind the Asian space race. "The argument was that obtaining data from other countries was cheaper" explained Prof. Jayaratne. "But the data was not 'custom made'. There was always the issue of what's called the oblique angle, when it came to aerial photographs. A satellite of any other country would not pass Sri Lanka directly overhead." He explained that, consequently the data are not 100% precise and suited for the different and particular needs of our country.

But there is still hope for those space junkies, plans are being drawn as we speak, to launch two satellites. LEO (Low Earth Orbiting), satellite orbiting the Earth at 780 kms. But as Prof. Jayaratne explained a lower earth orbit satellite would have a short life span (5 to 10 years). The second - the Geostationary satellite will be 36,000 kms from earth. One of the satellites will be named after Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the inventor of the theory of the communication satellite.

Prof. Jayaratne revealed that the Arthur C. Clarke Institute is in the course of conducting a needs assessment of data Sri Lanka retrieves from satellites of other countries and what we may require in the future. This technology, he claims, is vital for developing transducers - information gathering instruments - for any future launch of satellites in Sri Lanka.

The database developed in the process, which will include satellite meta data (past satellite data) - will be accessible to researchers as well as well as any interested personnel said Prof. Jayaratne. "The idea is to prevent double payment" explained the professor. Some institutes such as the Department of Meteorology, department of Agriculture, NARA and Central Environmental Authority may obtain the same type of data direct from the satellite owning countries, for different purposes. Most often Sri Lanka pays twice for the same sets of data, because it is purchased by different institutions.

Having our own satellite would solve these problems for good. The Arthur C. Clarke Centre, which is the focal point in this endeavour, is attempting to collaborate with other countries like India to obtain and exchange data, use their expertise and personnel for maintenance purposes and to develop our own satellites in time to come.

"Sri Lanka is leap-frogging to the space age by launching the satellites." But the professor also explained that such an endeavour would take 10 to 20 years of planning. "It's easier said than done." Prof. Jayaratne further explained "You can't just buy a satellite.

Technology as anything else has to be sustainable." Developing the infrastructure and most importantly a culture which encourages space technology and its applications is of vital importance. And Sri Lanka has already taken the first step to doing so. As Prof. Jayaratne explained integrating space technology into the school curriculum has to be done at an elementary level so that in time to come some students will enter university and go abroad to learn space technology.

This year being the International Year of Astronomy a part on astronomy and space applications has already been included in A/L physics. Five years ago the University of Colombo commenced a course unit on astronomy, which is in high demand at the moment.

Competitions like the national level competitions for school children on water boost rocket technology organized by the Arthur C. Clarke Institute, will give students an insight into the theory of rocket science. In 2007 the National Astronomy and Astrophysics Olympiad was established by the Institute of Physics Sri Lanka.

The best students were first trained in the Arthur C. Clarke Centre and then sent to the International Olympiad.

"All these efforts and the establishment of over 300 school level astronomy and rocket science societies have created unprecedented interest among young students for the field of space technology" explained Prof. Jayaratne. "This is part of creating the right sort of infrastructure."

"Astronomy is not the sort of science that you could earn bread and butter by" explained Prof. Jayaratne. This is exactly why it is difficult to popularise such a science in Sri Lanka.

But space technology will ultimately be used for the betterment of living standards of the general public. Prof. Jayaratne explained that, therefore any capital spent on the improvement of space technology in Sri Lanka is money well spent.

He pointed out that the Apollo Program met with similar resistances, but if not for these space explorations, some of the items we take for granted today - such as sunglasses, the codeless iron, joystick, plastic and polythene, nonstick pan, golf ball - and some of the marvels of space technology - as the MRI scanner, edible toothpaste and GPS (Global Positioning System), would never have been discovered. With a satellite of our own before long space technology has the potential to reach the poorest and remotest communities of our nation. Therefore we should not deter.