Julia Grey
MEASURING the effects of the space environment on satellites may seem like highly specialised technology, beyond most of us. But it’s child’s play to two groups of school children who have been actively involved in designing experiments that will travel on the Sunsat microsatellite in 1997.
Niki Steenkamp, an engineer at the Engineering Faculty at Stellenbosch University, says that room was reserved on Sunsat specifically to house electronic modules designed and built in school laboratories, with the educational aim “to stimulate interest in technical careers among school students” through early exposure to technology.
The programme, called Sunbuild, is a joint initiative by the faculty, the South African Radio League, and the South African Amateur Radio Satellite Association.
Pupils at the George Campbell Technical School in KwaZulu-Natal came up with an experiment that uses a temperature sensor and a microphone on the satellite to pick up any vibrations in its structure. These vibrations may be caused by temperature changes as the satellite moves in or out of the earth’s shadow and the noises Sunsat makes will be transmitted to the control room.
At Rhenish Girls’ High School, Stellenbosch, a group of young science fundis came up with electronic circuits to measure the effect of elements such as radiation on common electronic components. The pupils are currently in the first phase of building a radio that will receive the satellite’s “telemetry” signals, which give an indication of the status and health of the satellite
Of course, the pupils didn’t achieve this entirely unaided. Together with Mercia Mostert, the physical science teacher at Rhenish, the girls were given expert advice by an electronics engineer and a radio amateur.
Mostert describes the response of the girls involved in the project as “very positive”, and says that efforts are being made to include boys from a local school in order to swell the numbers of participating pupils.