C J Matembo, Senior Information Officer, SIRDC

Stories of astronauts travelling to space and staying there for months would undoubtedly sound more like science fiction to many people in the developing countries. How would you feel if you were to rub shoulders with someone who has been to space and has experienced weightlessness?

Some privileged SIRDC staff had such a lifetime opportunity when they met Mr Anatoly Pavlovich Artsebarskiy, a cosmonaut (Russian astronaut), who visited the Centre on 12 October 2006 as one of his ports of call during his stay in Zimbabwe. Mr Tonderayi Mukeredzi, a Public Relations Officer and Mr Simbabrashe Mashonganyika in the Bank Licensing, Supervision and Surveillance Department at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) accompanied the cosmonaut to SIRDC. Mr Artsebarskiy came to Zimbabwe as part of the large Russian delegation that reciprocated earlier visits to Russia by the RBZ Governor, Dr Gideon Gono. The Russian mission which comprised businesspeople and journalists came to explore business opportunities in Zimbabwe.

Mr Artsebarskiy, who is also a retired military test pilot, held discussions with the SIRDC Chief Executive Officer, Dr Robson Mafoti and other senior SIRDC officials. During the discussions, Mr Artsebarskiy said there was need for bilateral agreement between Russia and Zimbabwe, a framework that would allow cooperation between the two countries. He added that Russia could be one of Zimbabwe’s best partners in developing industrial and space technologies.

Mr Artsebarskiy, who is a hero in his country, urged Zimbabwe to embark on space technologies. He said through the framework of bilateral agreements, Russia could assist Zimbabwe to build its own communication satellite, adding that the Zimbabwe Ministry of Science and Technology Development had shown interest in such a programme. He said that one of the problems he had observed since his arrival in the country was the slow speed of telecommunications, especially the Internet.

Mr Artsebarskiy cited the example of Khazahstan (a former province of the then Soviet Union), which decided to embark on advanced space technology, and launched its own communication satellite, resulting in faster information traffic. He said Khazahstan is endowed with similar resources as Zimbabwe but at the time it had worse challenges than Zimbabwe is facing today.

The cosmonaut called for the country to encourage and inspire students to learn and develop interest in space science. He said interest could be aroused through films and DVDs on space science and technology.

Mr Artsebarskiy invited Zimbabwe to send one person to space on a Russian spacecraft at a cost of US$20 million. He said this option of going to space as tourists offered the best and easiest opportunity for those Zimbabwean scientists who intend to travel to the world above. He added that every country will one day get to space, so it would be better to be among the early birds.

Dr Mafoti said other areas of interest to SIRDC include capacity building, networking, information and staff exchange programmes as well as financial support for the Centre’s research activities.

As a way forward, Mr Artsebarskiy advised Zimbabwe to draft and submit a proposal to Russia seeking its assistance in building a Zimbabwe communication satellite. Mr Artsebarskiy was very impressed by the activities at SIRDC, a Centre he said has the future of the country in its hands.