Engineering for Space Science

Abstract

The South African National Space Agency’s Space Science Directorate, previously the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory (HMO., has been participating in the South African National Antarctic Programme for a number of years. SANSA’s permanent observatories at the SANAE IV, Marion Island and Gough Island bases collect data year round, for both near real time and long-term data sets, and make an important contribution towards SANSA’s mandate to provide Space Weather Services and cutting-edge research in the Space Science and Physics disciplines. This presentation outlines the contribution of the Engineering and Data Acquisition Unit (EDA., which is responsible for Science Support Engineering - managing and performing installations, commissioning, maintenance, calibrations and modifications on electronic instruments and systems for the collection, reduction and analysis of scientific data. The presentation also focuses on the engineering challenges with working in remote locations and in extreme environments as well as the SANSA’s contribution to Human Capital Development with highlights on some of our achievements to date. - Abstract as displayed in the - Abstract booklet. The presentation on the day may differ from the - Abstract.