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As John Cage puts it, “there is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot”. In the vastness of the universe, it is quite transparent that we are almost invisible in the grand scheme of the cosmos. However, humanity is a race of travelers. Exploration and curiosity are wired into our brains. If we can see the horizon, we would instinctively want to know what is beyond. These curious explorers who spend their lives looking beyond Earth are astronomers, where they specialise in astronomy, studying everything in the universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere like the Sun, the Moon, and the stars. There are several countries that are home to the best astronomy and astrophysics institutions, such as the United States, where they house some of the best universities and some of the biggest telescopes in the world, and as you know, NASA. What about Malaysia? Where does Malaysia fall in the grand scheme of the cosmos?

While astronomy is not as big in Malaysia as it is in the United States, it is worth noting that Malaysia is doing surprisingly well in the development of astronomy, albeit slowly. It is safe to say that Malaysia has a solid foundation in astronomy, such as the foundation of the Malaysia Space Agency (MYSA) in 2019, which was established through the merging of Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency (MRSA) and National Space Agency (ANGKASA). MYSA has played a leading role in spearheading national-level programmes in all branches of astronomy, as well as space weather and microgravity science. MYSA’s efforts in developing the field led to the construction of the Langkawi National Observatory (LNO), which was built in 2006 on Bukit Malut Dam. The LNO was established to be the main training platform for Malaysia’s astronomy human capital, where its national programs have seen the involvement of Malaysian astronomers in the cataloguing of equatorial astronomical phenomena and monitoring of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects via astrometric CCD observations. 

A further flex for Malaysia is that to date, three Malaysians have been awarded the prestigious NASA Hubble Fellowships. Well then, Malaysia looks like it is on a roll in the astronomy world. If that is the case, what is it that is stopping us from becoming a global leader in the field? Despite our achievements, Malaysia’s space industry in the words of Malaysia’s first astrophysicist – Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman, has “taken many steps backwards”, whereby around 2004, Malaysia’s space programme was the envy of several countries. Today, some of the formerly envious countries have surpassed Malaysia’s achievements.

Additionally, the most notable of problems: Brain Drain. Despite Malaysia having bright minds and the facilities, without proper and due investment in our space initiatives, good talent will leave. In my opinion, space-related fields tend to be fields where people enter due to aspirations they have that are bigger than themselves; it is inspirational. Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman made a noteworthy comparison between astronomy and biotech; biotech is business-driven, whereas people who enter the space industry are people with motivations and goals bigger than themselves and their companies. Without any programmes and targets to reach back home, they will undoubtedly seek these aspirations elsewhere. Another concern raised by Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr. Mazlan Othman is our education system. As she puts it, “The system is simply not creating enough thinkers for the future”. It simply isn’t enough to build knowledge in STEM, there should also be as she put it “an enculturation of culture” to make the system a more holistic one, which would involve encouraging creativity without neglecting the Arts. Innovation comes from our ability to be creative. Without deliberate encouragement in schools, we are merely producing a generation of workers and not thinkers.

Should Malaysia continue pursuing this endeavour? It is first important to note the importance of astronomy to a country’s development. Astronomy as a discipline engenders practical wisdom, and serves as a ‘gateway’ science.  As an article from Nanyang puts it, astronomy requires instruments or algorithms that often do not yet exist. In fulfilling this need, astronomy advances the very frontiers of technology, where these new discovered technologies often end up benefiting society unexpectedly. For example, the creation of the invaluable GPS (Global Positioning System) would not have been possible if not for none other than Albert Einstein’s theories of special and general relativity, who arrived at the theory through being aware of the discrepancy in Mercury’s motion. Additionally, prosthetic limbs have come a long way from wooden peg legs, and these advances happened due to the robotic limbs that NASA has been using everywhere from here to Mars. Astronomy has also influenced advances in medical technology, with advances in imaging software that were created to see further and clearer into the universe, which led to the discovery of the Fourier analysis. The Fourier analysis helps astronomers see clear pictures that are otherwise obscured by visual noise and other forms of interference. This analysis applies to medical imaging to provide the cleanest picture possible, which helps medical practitioners in providing more accurate diagnoses. 

Malaysia as a country has a notable advantage in the space race, which is its strategic location near the equator. This would play a pivotal role in making space launches more energy-efficient and cost-effective. Currently, there are only 8 countries with launch sites. As of 2023, Malaysia is setting its sights on the stars as the Science, Technology, and Innovation (Mosti) as it launched the feasibility study guidelines for the development of a space launch site. Should Malaysia choose to capitalise on its strategic location, Malaysia can position itself as the ninth country in the world to possess such a facility. 

Whether or not it should, is a question of its own. It is worth considering the immense environmental impact of a space launch. The spectacle of clouds that come out of the propulsion of a space shuttle contains reactive chemicals that not only affects soil and water quality, but as a UCL article of an opinion on the Cornwall space launch says, space launches also release air pollutants directly into multiple layers of the atmosphere, which include black carbon or soot particles, which are responsible in efficiently absorbing the sun’s rays and therefore warming the atmosphere. Applying this to Malaysia, where an article by malaysiakini analyses the impacts of a space launch and Malaysia having increased its mitigation ambition to cut carbon intensity against GDP by 45 percent by 2030, it would seem wise to address more pressing issues at hand such as poverty and inflation. However, it would be unwise to dismiss the benefits that being the ninth country in the world to possess a space launch facility would bring, such as a spur of economic expansion and a new reputation and source of pride. 

In hindsight, it is very easy to overlook the applications of astronomy to our every-day life. However, one thing that particularly draws me to astronomy is its profound human nature. To me, astronomy is the one field that holistically encapsulates the intersection of science, culture, spirituality and art. Simply looking up at the vastness of the night sky is enough to simultaneously invoke feelings and questions of grandness and existentialism in me. However, if we focus on the piece of rock on which we are all standing on, it becomes easy to see that astronomy is not just a science, it has the ability to touch the lives of everyone, and to inspire us to be better towards each other and to make the world a better place.