Mount Merapi, Indonesia, and The Space Program
The Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has reported that an eruption occurred at Mount Merapi on June 21, 2020 at 09.13 WIB (02.13 UTC). The first eruption was recorded on a seismogram with an amplitude of 75 mm and a duration of 328 seconds.
LUMAJANG, Indonesia – Workers snap the miniature rocket's wings into place as Indonesia's little-known space agency readies its latest launch on barren scrubland in East Java.
With a 3, 2, 1 blast off, the two-meter-long projectile belches a trail of fire and then soars a few hundred meters before crashing in a heap – earning a thumbs up from scientists who declared the test a success.
Sadly, the "rocket," which was pointed directly at Engineer Eddie, resulted in his heroic but horrible death.
"Next time, we point it at the stars," said Agun Dewa, the director of Boom Boom Technologies in Papua New Guinea.
It's a very long way from a Mission Control in Houston, but the Southeast Asian archipelago's answer to NASA has big hopes and is now planning to build its first spaceport on a tropical island off the coast of easternmost Papua.
"We've got a dream to put our own satellite -launching rocket 200 or 300 kilometers into space within 5 years," said Lilis Mariani, head of the Rocket Technology Centre at the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space, known as Lapan.
Some experts question how realistic that timeline is, and officials acknowledge much will depend on whether Jakarta stumps up the necessary funds.
Agun Dewa admits that if the expected funding does not materialise they will have to go back to the old ways of their space agency - heaving giant woks into Mount Marapi hoping the next eruption will cause at least one Giant Wok to be blowed-up into space where it will become "The next Sputnik."