The Walvis Bay Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (Stem) Club is currently undertaking tours for pupils to visit the China Telemetry, Tracking and Command Station outside Swakopmund.
The tours serve to expose pupils, especially girls, to new opportunities and to broaden their mindset.
Various schools from Walvis Bay have participated in the tour, which started last Wednesday. These included Walvis Bay Primary School, De Duine Secondary School, Nara Primary School and Duneside High, while requests from other schools are still coming in.
Most of the trips that have taken place were free of charge, and will only be free for this coming week.
“I took the Walvis Bay Stem Club in September, and they mentioned that the place has been there for the past few years, but has not been used properly due to not being able to reach schools. They had an open day for schools earlier this year, and only a few showed up. So I decided to help them to get more exposure, plus it will be beneficial for the pupils to see,” said Anastacia de Klerk, a coordinator of the club.
De Klerk says all schools are welcome to request for tours, currently being offered for free through the Stem club. Schools have to provide transport for their pupils to the site.
The Swakopmund tracking station is a Chinese space station, which is used for the Chinese-manned space programme. The station, which opened in July 2001, tracks the re-entry of Chinese manned space crafts.
The station was built as a result of an agreement signed in October 2000 between the Namibian and Chinese governments. It was built at an estimated cost of N$12 million. The site is north of Swakopmund and is a 150m x 85m compound, surrounded by a two-metre wall. It has two antennae for communicating with spacecraft, one five metres in diameter and the other nine metres. It was announced in March 2012 that it had participated in six launches. It is one of three stations, with the other two being in Karachi, Pakistan, and Malindi, Kenya.
For more information, call De Klerk at 081 352 7954.
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