NEWS & MEDIA

“ Young Guguletu science student arrives back from NASA”

South Africa’s young aspiring astronaut Nomathemba Kontyo arrived back in the country yesterday, after spending two weeks at the National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA) in the United States. This to a rousing welcome by Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Lindiwe Hendricks, fellow students and Technogirls.

Technogirls is a project, run by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), aimed at getting young women into the field of science and technology.

Kontyo (16) a Grade 11 learner at Fezeka High school in Gugulethu was one of the 16 students selected amongst 500 others worldwide to work with scientists and astronauts on a Mars Exploration Mission. She was chosen as a result of her sterling performance in an essay competition "Red Rover goes to Mars".

Kontyo's job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was to observe the movement of Opportunity, a rover sent on a mission to Mars and report to the world its movement. She was accompanied by her mother Angelina on her first visit overseas.

Speaking at a welcoming ceremony at the Cape Town International Airport, Ms Hendricks said Kontyo fitted in well with the aims of Technogirls. The Deputy Minister also named Kontyo an honorary ambassador of Technogirls and congratulated those who helped her from the beginning. Ms Hendricks also awarded Kontyo the “Technogirl of the Year” Award.

"She was struggling because she was not connected to any computer and this thing (assignments) needed her to have a computer, it was through thick and thin that she made it to the last 16," Ms Hendricks explained.

She added this was an exciting time for Kontyo as the Department of Science and Technology had prepared a range of programmes for the young student. She added that the DTI would have an everlasting relationship with Kontyo and her school. "There is a no doubt she is an inspiration to all girls, we are very proud to have her as a South African."

For her part, Kontyo thanked everyone who had helped her, including her teacher Brent Johnson and deputy-principal Tembeka Mangxola. She explained how she and a partner from the United Kingdom worked with images from Opportunity.

"Though it was quite fun we attended meetings where the scientists developed plans of the movement and we were the only students from all over the world to participate, which was a great thing and a good opportunity for all of the students," she said. She encouraged learners, especially girls, to focus on their careers. "Nothing is impossible in life because if you can dream it, you can do it."

Dr Bettye Walker from the International Science Discovery and Learning Centre in the US also encouraged learners to aim high in their lives. "Altitude is always by your attitude, as you can see she (Kontyo) has an enormous attitude that is why she has reached this altitude," she said.

Dr Walker explained that when other learners were enjoying their school holidays, Kontyo would board two taxis from home to attend to her 16 assignments and research at the MTN Science Laboratory.

She also announced that her organisation, with the help of the Rotary Club, would officially open a new state-of-the-art computer and science laboratory at Fezeka High School on 19 March. -