Leading NASA Scientists Visit International Astronomers meeting in South Africa

By Wallace Mawire

A delegation of leading scientists from the USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, are in Cape Town for the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly 2024 being held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) from 6 to15 August,2024.

The IAU General Assembly is the world’s largest international meeting of astronomers and National Organizing Committee Chair, Kevin Govender, says South Africa’s National Research Foundation will welcome more than 2,000 delegates from 82 countries to the historic event which sees the General Assembly being held on the African continent for the first time in the Union’s 105-year history.

Astronomy and space enthusiasts can look forward to engaging with NASA scientists during the special “An Evening with NASA” public event at the CTICC from 7-9 PM on 8 August, and at the agency’s custom 36m2 exhibition in Exhibition Hall 1 of the CTICC which will be open to the public during IAU General Assembly public events. Experts from NASA’s Science Mission Directorate will highlight various aspects of the Directorate’s work, including progress on the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, missions to discover and study planets outside our solar system, and the agency’s strategy to safeguard Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids and comets.

Former NASA astronaut and the first African American woman in space, Dr Mae Jemison, will make various public appearances during the IAU General Assembly, including a Women’s Day Event featuring hands-on activities designed and presented especially for women and girls at the CTICC from 11 AM - 2 PM on 9 August. Jemison, who is fluent in Swahili, is an engineer and physician whose career included serving as an Area Peace Corps Medical Officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia before being selected for NASA’s astronaut program in 1988.

Images from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched on 25 December 2021 are already allowing astronomers to rewrite the history of the universe, and research conducted with the space-based infrared telescope will be shared in no fewer than 25 presentations during the General Assembly. Also, a hot topic at the meeting will be NASA’s proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory, a space-based infrared, optical, and ultraviolet telescope to be designed specifically to search for signs of life on planets beyond our solar system.

The public is also invited to witness a 10-minute live radio link with the International Space Station at 1:55 PM on 9 August during which 10 lucky Cape Town learners can ask NASA astronaut and Boeing Starliner Crew Flight Test Pilot, Dr Sunita Williams, a question. The Boeing Starliner is a next generation reusable space capsule designed to transport cargo and crews to and from low-Earth orbit starting with missions to the International Space Station carrying NASA crew members.

Enthusiasts around the world unable to visit Cape Town need not fear missing out, as registrations for full online participation in the meeting are still open and, in another first, the IAU will allow anyone with internet access to watch sessions in pre-recorded or live format on YouTube.

The IAU General Assembly is proudly hosted by the National Research Foundation with strong support from the Department of Science and Innovation and the African Astronomical Society. Key sponsors include the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, Brand South Africa, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Amazon Web Services, the American Institute of Physics, European Space Agency, and the Simons Foundation.