A delegation from the US space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is in South Africa in what is described as a bid to ‘rekindle’ relations between the two.
NASA is also planning on building a communication facility at Matjiesfontein which will help it communicate with astronauts who will be travelling to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis programme.
A tracking station at Hartbeeshoek, in what is today north-western Gauteng, had also played an important role in facilitating communication between NASA and astronauts who were part of the Apollo programme, NASA’s previous programme which landed humans on the Moon in the 1960s and 1970s.
In order to facilitate communication between the Artemis astronauts and Earth, NASA is building three communication stations across the globe, one of these being the station at Matjiesfontein.
Said Gregory Mann, a member of the NASA delegation: ‘We see our cooperation with the South African National Space Agency not about building an antenna in Matjiesfontein, but about building a partnership with South African people here, and that includes outreach and inspiration with the youth here.’
NASA has also said that Artemis will see the first woman and person of colour travel to the Moon.