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Reforms in the electricity regulationsin Angola and Mozambiquemean that these two countriesare ripe for significant investmentsin new power generation schemesaccording the consultancy firm Frost &Sullivan.A report compiled by this consulting groupsays that both countries have changed theirinvestment laws, allowing foreign and domesticinvestors equal access to investmentincentives. This opens the way for private investorsto embark on public infrastructureprojects. The regional economic growth is expectedto remain relatively constant at aboutWWatt’s Going On?Angola and Mozambiqueripe for investmentsix percent a year for the next ten years. It isnow the environmental factors that may startinfluencing a change in electricity generationprojects in both these countries, says Cornelisvan der Waal, energy manager at Frost &Sullivan.He says that both Mozambique and Angolahave been “reshaping” their electricity industriesto meet the escalating demand which isexpected to reach 11 percent a year betweennow and 2015. He says this is largely due tothe agricultural boom, growth in the manufacturingsector and an increasing focus onelectrification projects in urban and ruralareas.The Angolan electricity industry is set forsimilar growth, of 12 percent a year until2015, and the national reconstruction programmein that country is expected to play asignificant role in boosting electricity demandand the consequent investment in more powergenerating capacity, De Waal says.He concedes that the investment environmentis characterised by long, drawn-out,bureaucratic procedures in most of the governmentinstitutions along with a high levelof corruption among government officials.This makes foreign investors reluctant to investin either of these countries.Atlantis visits Hubble on a maintenance tripThe space shuttle Atlantis madea week-long visit to the Hubblespace telescope and repaired variousvital systems to extend thelife of the telescope for another ten years orso. Hubble is in orbit about 500 kilometresabove the Earth’s surface and is orbiting atalmost 28 000 kilometres an hour.The mission, known as STS-125, will replacethe cameras, gyroscopes, batteries andcomputer systems in the space telescope. Afteryears of exposure to the extreme temperaturesof space, the insulation on the Hubblewas also replaced.The maintenance and repair programmemeans that the Hubble will be able to lookdeeper into space than ever beforeAstronaut, Megan Arthur, was responsiblefor gingerly plugging a robotic arm into thespace telescope before lifting it safely into aspecially designed cradle at the back of theshuttle’s cargo bay.The upgrades to the Hubble space telescope– which has cost about $10-billion so far –will increase its lifespan to at least 2014 andby then it will be replaced by an infrared-sensitiveJames Webb Space Telescope.With the upgrades successfully completedNASA will be able to use Hubble’s new widefieldcamera to look deep into the light streamingfrom objects when the universe was about500-million years old. The targets are so faraway that the light shifted from visible ultravioletwavelengths of infrared.The Atlantis flight to Hubble is the lastflight it will ever do. The space shuttle fleetis due to be retired within the next 17 monthsafter eight more missions.However, NASA was concerned about damagecaused to Atlantis during its liftoff andasked the astronauts to examine the heatshield. Using a boom with sensors, the astronautsexamined the thermal protection systemon the nose, wings and underside of shuttleand found a 533-millimetre scratch on thestarboard side, caused by debris that hit thespace craft 104 seconds after the launch.As a precaution, NASA decided to put afour-person astronaut rescue crew on standbyand set the rescue craft, Endeavour, on a T-Minus-Seven-Day launch schedule. If Atlantiswas unsafe for the trip back to Earth, Endeavourwould be launched and once in orbit,would manoeuvre close to Atlantis and graspit with a robot arm.Once firmly gripped, the entire crew of Atlantisplanned to spacewalk to Endeavour,over the course of a few days, and once safelyon board, it would return to Earth with 11crew members on board. NASA would thenditch the deserted Atlantis shuttle into thePacific Ocean if it survived re-entry into theEarth’s atmosphere.Perched on the end of the Canadian-built remotemanipulator system, astronaut Andrew Feustel,mission specialist, performs work on the HubbleSpace Telescope as the first of five STS-125spacewalks kicks off a week’s work on the orbitingobservatory. Photo credit: NASAJune 2009 11