The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is indeed fulfilling its mandates with the recent announcement by the director, UN-African regional centre for space science and technical education in English (UN-ARCSSTEE), a research and development centre under the NASRDA, Professor Babatunde Rabiu at a symposium in Abuja that the agency has acquired a Cosmic X-Ray detector, the first of its kind by any African country.
The news of this great stride is indeed commendable because it had shown that the Dr. Halilu Shaba led management of the agency is indeed more than ready to help the government achieve on its millennium development goals agenda through space technology.
X-ray detectors are devices used to measure the flux, spatial distribution, spectrum, and other properties of X-rays. The acquired Cosmic X- ray detector is called the NUON detector is very important for a country like Nigeria because it is used for the monitoring of cosmic rays and space weather. This important X-ray detector was built and designed by the prestigious physics and astronomy department of Georgia state university in the USA. Cosmic rays area.
Particles from outer space that travels across the universe. They can be made from the sun, by other stars exploding and even black holes. They move extremely fast nearly the speed of light, but when they hit the earth they are generally blocked by our atmosphere and made harmless to humans. A cosmic-ray observatory is a scientific installation built therefore to detect the high energy particles coming from space called Cosmic rays and this typically includes Protons and some heavy nuclei, as well as antimatter particles. This explains why the recourse of NASRDA to acquire the Cosmic X-Ray detector for our great country at this time is deserving of commendation from all patriotic citizens.
It is also important also to note that Cosmic Rays vary in location, latitudes and altitude of location and can be modified when certain anthropogenic activities occurs. Scientists are curious about predicting weather and studying space weather especially now that climate change is becoming obvious which is the condition in our outer space. The Cosmic Rays are everywhere including Nigeria because it has to do with the earth, and it is used in studying the climate, but is yet to be fully impacted because it is ongoing research.
The Cosmic X-Ray detector will going forward help the nation to have an effective predictability of its climate system. Few countries in Africa today have their Global Navigational System (GNSS) receivers but needs more monitoring systems for space weather and with this first in Africa acquisition of the X-ray detector in Africa we are today showing the world that gradually we are living up to the expectation of the black man all over the world that we are truly the giant of Africa, thanks to NASRDA under the Dr Halilu Ahmed Shaba led management of the agency because it is now a miracle as to who little is given, much is gotten.
– Musa Wada writes from Abuja.
