While touring Australia some years back sleeping in a tent in the middle of nowhere, one of the most fascinating things was the night view of the sky, where instead of seeing a star here and there, or spotting a well known known constellation, one would be amazed with the sight of thousands of stars one next to each other, almost seeming to be connected.
This effect occurs as far from urban centres where night is dominated by street and building lighting most of which is lost upwards into the sky which ruins the darkness, there would be no light whatsoever, except some bonfire lit for cooking or maintain some warmth, and therefore there would be nothing to distract from the view of our galaxy, the Milky Way.
Observations of space by mankind were crucial for civilisation as we know it, starting from the discovery of the solar year, predictions of the seasons leading to farming and agriculture, as well as transcendental considerations that led to religion.
On my way around Australia, I also encountered gigantic structures related to astronomy. For example, in NSW near to Narrabri, there is the CSIRO Australian Telescope Compact Array, consisting of a set of 6 identical antennas used for radio astronomy, three of which shown in the picture, which is unique in the world’s southern hemisphere.1
Not far away from this in NSW there is the famous radio telescope with a 64 metre diameter in Parkes, which was used several times to follow various space missions, including Apollo 11 which took man to the moon.2
There was a push lately in this space (excuse the pun) with the establishment of the Australian Space Agency in June 2018. Although the space industry in Australia has long been established and respected for decades, it was felt necessary to have an agency to transform and grow this industry to boost the economy, inspire and improve the lives of Australian citizens.
I also took pleasure in noting similar ambitions of Malta. This little island in the middle of the Mediterranean, a speck almost invisible when compared to the largest island-content in our world, also has a vision of grasping opportunities that arise from space systems.
The Maltese journey began in 2012 when Malta signed a cooperation agreement with the European Space Agency. Then in 2017 the Malta Council for Science and Technology launched the national policy for space. Through this were identified what kinds of essential services that were expected to benefit, which sectors of the economy were involved, what investments in education were needed and what other opportunities could arise.3
The Maltese government also decided to invest substantial funds of millions of euros to launch this initiative.4
There are already signs of movement in this new sphere for the land of our forefathers. Earlier this year, a project for a Maltese micro satellite was announced intended to study the characteristics of the ionosphere, that part of the atmosphere generally considered between 60 and 1000 km above sea level. This is the first project of its type in the country.5
This is a clear sign of the stage of development of this small country of Malta, which from the tremendous destruction of the 2nd world war, today is looking not only behond the horizon but also up into the sky.
This does not mean that all problems on land have been solved and there is nothing left to be done except search for new challenges. Problems abound such as lack of space, too many private vehicles, social issues, high immigration, political division etc etc. Nevertheless it is apt not to concentrate exclusively on just fighting fires, but to invest in activities which can bear fruit in future, that offer inspiration for the generations of tomorrow and open minds to new possibilities.
I can only wish success to my country of origin.
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Meta kont qed indur madwar l-Awstralja xi snin ilu u norqod f’tinda fid-disabitat, waħda mill-affarijiet li affaxxinatni kienet il-veduta billejl tas-sema, fejn minflok li wieħed jara xi kewkba ‘l hawn u ‘l hemm, jew jagħraf xi kostellazzjoni magħrufa, jiskanta bil-vista ta’ eluf ta’ kwiekeb waħda ħdejn waħda kważi ma jaqtgħu xejn.
Dan jiġri għax ‘il bogħod miċ-ċentri tal-abitazzjoni fejn billejl jispikka d-dwal tat-toroq u tal-bini li ħafna minnu jintilef lejn is-smewwiet u jgħarraq id-dalma tal-lejl, fid-disabitat ma jkun hemm l-ebda dawl ta’ xejn, għajr xi ħuġġieġa li tkun tkebbset biex issajjar xi ħaġa jew iżżomm daqsxejn sħun, u allura ma jkun baqa’ xejn li jtellef il-perspettiva mid-dinja tal-galassja tagħna, it-Triq ta’ Sant’Anna (Milky Way).
L-osservazzjonijiet tal-ispazju mill-bniedem kienu kruċjali għaċ-ċiviltà kif nafuha, ibda bl-iskoperta tas-sena solari, il-previżjonijiet tal-istaġuni u l-impatt ta’ dan fuq il-biedja, kif ukoll kunsiderazzjonijiet traxxendentali li wasslu għar-reliġjon.
Fi triqti madwar l-Awstralja, iltqajt ukoll ma’ strutturi ġganteski li għandhom x’jaqsmu mal-astronomija. Per eżempju, ħdejn Narrabri f’NSW, hemm l-Australia Telescope Compact Array tas-CSIRO, li jikkonsisti f’sett ta’ sitt antennas identiċi li jintużaw għall-astronomija bir-radju, tlieta minnhom jidhru fl-istampa, li hu uniku fl-emisfera tan-nofsinhar tad-dinja.1
Mhux ħafna bogħod minnu f’NSW hemm il-famuż teleskopju tar-radju b’dijametru ta’ 64 metru f’Parkes, li intuża kemm ‘il darba biex isegwi diversi missjonijiet spazjali, inkluża Apollo 11 li wassal lill-bniedem fuq il-qamar.2
Kien hemm spinta aħħarija f’dan il-qasam bit-twaqqif tal-Aġenzija Spazjali Awstraljana f’Ġunju tal-2018. Għalkemm l-industrija spazjali fl-Awstralja ilha stabbilita u rrispettata għal għexieren ta’ snin, xorta nħass il-bżonn ta’ aġenzija li tittrasforma u tkattar din l-industrija biex titkabbar l-ekonomija, tispira u ttejjeb il-ħajja taċ-ċittadini Awstraljani.
Kien ta’ pjaċir għalija ninnota li anke Malta għandha ambizzjonijiet simili. Din il-gżira f’nofs il-Mediterran, farka kważi inviżibbli meta mqabbla mal-ikbar gżira-kontinent tad-dinja, ukoll għandha l-viżjoni li taħtaf l-opportunitajiet li jiġu mis-sistemi tal-ispazju.
Il-vjaġġ Malti beda fl-2012 meta Malta ffirmat ftehim ta’ kooperazzjoni mal-European Space Agency. Imbagħad fl-2017 il-Kunsill Malti għax-Xjenza u t-Teknoloġija nieda l-politika nazzjonali Maltija għall-ispazju. Biha identifika x’tipi ta’ servizzi essenzjali li jkunu mistennija li jibbenefikaw, liema setturi fl-ekonomija ikunu involuti, x’investimenti fl-edukazzjoni jistgħu isiru u x’opportunitajiet oħra jistgħu jinħolqu.3
Il-gvern Malti wkoll iddeċieda li jinvesti fondi sostanzjali ta’ miljuni ta’ ewro biex ivara din l-inizjattiva.4
Diġà hemm sinjali ta’ ċaqlieq f’dan il-qasam ġdid għal pajjiż missirijietna. Iktar kmieni din is-sena, ġie mħabbar proġett ta’ satellita żgħira ħafna Maltija intenzjonata li tistudja il-karatteristiċi tal-jonosfera, il-parti tal-atmosfera bejn 60 u 1000km ‘il fuq mil-livell tal-baħar. Dan huwa l-ewwel proġett tax-xorta tiegħu fil-pajjiż.5
Huwa sinjal ċar tal-istat ta’ żvilupp ta’ pajjiż ċkejken bħal Malta, li mill-qirda tremenda tat-tieni gwerra dinjija, illum qiegħed iħares mhux biss ‘l hemm mill-orizzont iżda wkoll ‘l fuq lejn is-smewwiet.
Dan ma jfissirx li l-problemi kollha ta’ din l-art issolvew kollha u ma baqagħlniex x’nagħmlu ħlief li nfittxu sfidi ġodda. Problemi hemm bħal nuqqas ta’ spazju, vetturi privati żejda, problemi soċjali, immigrazzjoni għolja, firda politika, eċċ eċċ. Madankollu hemm lok li wieħed ma jikkonċentrax esklussivament f’li jintefgħu in-nirien ta’ issa, imma li jinvesti f’attivitajiet li jrendu għall-quddiem, li joffru ispirazzjoni għall-ġenerazzjonijiet ta’ għada u li jiftħu l-imħuħ għal possibiltajiet ġodda.
Jien nista’ biss nawgura suċċess lil art twelidi.
1https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/Australia-Telescope-Compact-Array/About-Australia-Telescope-Compact-Array, retrieved 22/8/2019
2https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/Parkes-radio-telescope/About-Parkes, retrieved 22/8/2019
3Malta National Space Policy 2017; The Malta Council for Science & Technology
1https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/Australia-Telescope-Compact-Array/About-Australia-Telescope-Compact-Array, retrieved 22/8/2019
2https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/Facilities/ATNF/Parkes-radio-telescope/About-Parkes, retrieved 22/8/2019
3Malta National Space Policy 2017; The Malta Council for Science & Technology
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