The United States Embassy in Ghana has been commemorating the Apollo 11, 50 years after its spaceflight landed the first two people on the Moon.
The Embassy’s celebration focused on developing Ghana’s technological capacities, security and working towards a Ghana Beyond Aid.
Marking its 243rd Independence Day celebration in Ghana, the Embassy Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin, and the African-American woman, who made the journey to the moon possible.
With nine Ghanaian girls beating about 24 others in a recent robotics competition in the US, the US government says its commitment to supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Ghana has been reinvigorated.
“When we talk about assisting Ghana in her journey to self-reliance, we do not focus on the difficulties, but we imagine the possibilities. The US enthusiastically supports Ghana’s promotion of STEM education,” US Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan said.
The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery said he is proud that of the great heights being achieved int he field of engineering by some Ghanaians.
“We have a Ghanaians engineer, Dr Ashitey Trebi Olenu who established the Ghana Robotics Foundation Association and also led a team in designing spacecraft at NASA’s Jet Proportion laboratory.
“The time is coming when we will not only have a Ghanaian designing or programming spacecraft but also a Ghanaians who will go up in space and land on the moon,” he said.
As NASA advances with its space presence and latest landing on Mars in 2018, Dr Olenu says he hopes many more young Ghanaians will aspire to be like or more than him.
