South Africa to get its own space agency

The_Pumpkin_King said:
President Kgalema Motlanthe yesterday signed a bill that will see the country set up its own space agency for about R1 billion rand, the Department
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What this country needs is a better Education Department, Better Roads and infrastructure, better Law enforcement, Less Corruption (Bring Back the NPA).

The last thing we need is a department that will spend R200 000 on developing a toilet paper that will work in space :D. A Gumboot that can be warn on the moon (a further R 1000 000):D

I believe it will get worse before it gets better, FFS a Space Agency for a country that can barely feed and house it's people :eek:
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The_Pumpkin_King said:
President Kgalema Motlanthe yesterday signed a bill that will see the country set up its own space agency for about R1 billion rand, the Department
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R1 billion ! A friiggin shuttle like the old ones nasa are using will alone cost probably10 times more than that (and they wanna start an entire agency with that) ! LOL. I can see it now ! The Zuma Branded space shuttle has crash landed on its maiden voyage in the indian ocean due to using cost saving materials ! :rolleyes:
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ffs! its not letting me finish the original post so heres the rest:


President Kgalema Motlanthe yesterday signed a bill that will see the country set up its own space agency for about R1 billion rand, the Department of Science and Technology said. Spokesman Nhlanhla Nyide said the act could see SA pull together all space-related activities under one banner later this year.
"the agency will oversee development of space missions, develop technology platforms and acquire, assimilate and disseminate space satellite data for any organ of state", he said.
The agency was approved by cabinet in december 2008 to stimulate SA's capabilities among leading nations in the innovative utilization of space science and technology. Some of the projects it will co-ordinate includes the Square Kilometre Array bid, the Southern African Large Telescope and the launch of SA's second indigenous satellite.
Department of Science and Technology representatives told the citizen they were looking at "a ballpark figure" for the agency of about R1 billion spread over 10 years. They said, however, that a final figure could well be significantly lower. They put current spend at somewhere between R100 million and R200 million.
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quoted from the citizen dated 16-01-2009
 
Dohc-WP said:
The_Pumpkin_King said:
R1 billion ! A friiggin shuttle like the old ones nasa are using will alone cost probably10 times more than that (and they wanna start an entire agency with that) ! LOL. I can see it now ! The Zuma Branded space shuttle has crash landed on its maiden voyage in the indian ocean due to using cost saving materials ! :rolleyes:
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that what i was thinking, R1 billion!!:eek:

nasa budgeted for $17 billion http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=2286056#post2286056
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Dohc-WP said:
The_Pumpkin_King said:
R1 billion ! A friiggin shuttle like the old ones nasa are using will alone cost probably10 times more than that (and they wanna start an entire agency with that) ! LOL. I can see it now ! The Zuma Branded space shuttle has crash landed on its maiden voyage in the indian ocean due to using cost saving materials ! :rolleyes:
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A space program doesn't have to involve manned spaceflight. It's probably mostly going to do Earth-based research, and work together with other not-so-rich countries on satellite programs.

If it does ever involve manned spaceflight, it will be on someone else's rocket.
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They're going to use google earth pictures to create census type information and then realise much later that the pictures are 3 years old?

But, I suppose this is a small step in creating a more technology rich country, so that there is something of interest for the technology engineers to aim for.

I dunno. I'd still rather spend the money on education, but ... the educated tend to leave the country.
 
lol, someone found another way to get some money into there pockets...wonder how much will go missing... :D


P.S> oohh, got their excuse already .... "THE ALIENS TOOK THE MONEY!" :D :D
 
This is so sad, really so sad.

South Africans are now dying from cholera in Limpopo but we goin' to build rawkets!
 
I think you're missing the fact that a lot of this work is going on already - this bill will just create an umbrella body to manage it all.

And it's not a waste of money, it stimulates development, investment, etc. Or should we not have any sports teams, because after all, people are starving?
 
Building soccer stadiums does and paying millions to national coaches and players also does.
Technology creates more sustainable jobs (what happens when 2010 is over).
This space agency isn't meant to build rockets but to co-ordinate research, which in the long run helps everyone.
 
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The South African DST is actually one of the better departments in government. They spend a lot of money on education and development.

We already have an emergency landing strip for the NASA shuttle so dont see why we shouldn't extend our technology and services. Getting the SKA bid will help a lot in the long run by bringing in more funding to allow more people to get educated
 
Dohc-WP said:
The_Pumpkin_King said:
R1 billion ! A friiggin shuttle like the old ones nasa are using will alone cost probably10 times more than that (and they wanna start an entire agency with that) ! LOL. I can see it now ! The Zuma Branded space shuttle has crash landed on its maiden voyage in the indian ocean due to using cost saving materials ! :rolleyes:
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The shuttle will probably he some Telkom branding and a big Proudly South African sign.
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