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Introducing Ethiopia’s just born Space research programme

High above the crowded streets of Addis Ababa, among fields where farmers lead oxen dragging wooden ploughs, sits Ethiopia’s space programme.              

Perched at the top of the 3200m-high Mount Entoto, two metal domes house telescopes, each a metre in diameter. In operation for only a few months, they have propelled Ethiopia into an elite club of African countries to have embarked on a space programme.

Its programme is aimed at giving the country a technological boost that will aid its already rapid development.

“Science is part of any development cycle,” says Abinet Ezra, spokesman for the Ethiopian Space Science Society. “Without science and technology nothing can be achieved.

“Our main priority is to inspire the young generation to be involved in science and technology.”

The society, funded by Ethiopian-Saudi business tycoon Mohammed Alamoudi, was set up in 2004 to promote astronomy. But its supporters have had a tough ride setting up the space programme.

For the past decade, a handful of enthusiasts - including Solomon Belay, director of the observatory and a professor of astrophysics - battled with the authorities to convince them that, in a country that is still one of the poorest in the world, where malnutrition is still a threat, the exploration of space is not a luxury. Ethiopian strongman Meles Zenawi, who died in 2012, considered them dreamers.

“People said we were crazy,” says Belay.

The R39-million space observatory is, above all, a symbol. The site at Entoto, often hidden by clouds during the rainy season and close to the lights of Addis Ababa, struggles to compete with the world’s major observatories, including the far larger Southern African Large Telescope in South Africa.

But Ethiopia has plans, including to build a far more powerful observatory in the northern mountains around Lalibela, far from city lights.

The government hopes to launch a national space agency - and to put an Ethiopian satellite in orbit within five years, for the monitoring of farmland and to boost communications.

“We are using space applications in everyday activities, for mobile phones, weather - space applications are fundamental,” says Kelali Adhana, the International Astronomical Union chief for East Africa, based in Ethiopia. “We cannot postpone it, otherwise we allow ourselves to live in poverty.”

At Ethiopia’s Institute of Technology, in the northern town of Mekelle, scientists plan to test the first Ethiopian rocket to go more than 30km, although that is still far from the 100km frontier beyond which the Earth’s atmosphere gives way to space proper.

Celestial Cypress by Paul Marcellini

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Sea Level Rise

For thousands of years, sea level has remained relatively stable. But now, Earth’s seas are rising. Since the beginning of the 20th century, they have risen about eight inches, and more than two inches in the last 20 years alone!

As water warms, it expands and takes up more space. That means that when oceans warm, the sea level rises. This summer, we’ve been researching exactly how global warming has impacted Greenland’s ice sheet. Our ICESat-2 mission will use a laser to measure the height of the planet’s surface. Over time, we will be able to provide a record of elevation change, and estimate how much water has melted into the ocean from land ice change.

So how much ice are we actually losing? Great question, but the answer might shock you. In Greenland alone, 303 gigatons of ice was lost in 2014!

Since we know that ice is melting, we’re working to gain a better understanding of how much and how fast. We’re using everything from planes, probes and boats, to satellites and lasers to determine the impact of global warming on the Earth’s ice.

Follow along for updates and information: http://climate.nasa.gov/

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