Eva Nyambura
The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope successfully launched on Christmas morning. The James Webb Space Telescope is on a quest to scour the universe for a hint of life.
The NASA premier space observatory lifted off atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 7:20 a.m. ET.
Its flight to orbit lasted just under half an hour, with a signal confirming a successful outcome picked up by a ground antenna at Malindi in Kenya.
The Luigi Broglio Space Center (BSC) is an Italian-owned spaceport near Malindi, named after its founder and Italian space pioneer Luigi Broglio.
The centre was developed in the 1960s through a partnership between the Sapienza University of Rome’s Aerospace Research Centre and NASA.
In 2020, parliament ratified a new deal on the use of the multi-billion dollar rocket launching facility. This meant that Kenya would pocket Sh25 million annually from Italy for the use of the land.
James Webb Telescope. [Courtesy]Kenya had prior to the signing of the deal been negotiating for a new deal since 2012 when the previous pact ended.
The Sh25 million will be reviewed every five years, with a $50,000 (Sh5 million) increment.
Kenya had hosted the Italian-run space centre since 1962 without benefiting from it due to a pre-Independence agreement.
On Twitter, however, Kenyans wondered why the development did not get the media coverage it deserved.
Some said the media was preoccupied with politics.
Here are some of their sentiments:
Watching the jJames Webb telescope launch and it is great to see that Kenya (Malindi) has a role to play. It's a pity our Media cannot pick up on this development.
Cc: @citizentvkenya @NationAfrica@KTNNewsKE#UnfoldTheUniverse pic.twitter.com/JOWvRHzPiV
— Adams🇰🇪Korir🦇 (@adekorir) December 25, 2021
Kenya had a role in the launch of the $ 10 billion James Webb telescope, wonder why these things don't make the news pic.twitter.com/DIuWUfC1Yw
— chaos (@kibee) December 25, 2021
We have naive people everywhere. Malindi would have trended, many in the world would have visited ,.. our tourism message could have capitalized on that fully.. but who are we "hatupangangwi "
— William K. Eliphas (@EliphasWilliam) December 25, 2021
Well. We can blame anyone and everyone but even the so called tourism authority and @BrandKenya wamelala..
— William K. Eliphas (@EliphasWilliam) December 25, 2021
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