The South African National Space Agency (Sansa) announced on Tuesday that Sansa Space Science Programme MD Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell had died, following a short illness, on Saturday. She would have been 53 in December.

Located at Hermanus, on the south coast of the Western Cape province, the Space Science Programme includes the country’s Space Weather Centre, the only one of its type in Africa.

“The Space Weather Project was her crowning achievement which produced a Space Weather Capability for the country in three years, on time, and on budget,” highlighted Sansa. “The launch of the 24/7 Space Centre in November last year was a highlight for her and the Sansa team. Lee-Anne was a space weather advocate and custodian of the unique Sansa facility which she loved and is now a National Key Point, thanks to her continued efforts to protect the site.”

She originally joined what was then the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory in 2004, as a researcher. She was appointed acting MD of the facility in 2010. In 2012 the observatory was incorporated into the newly formed Sansa.

“Lee-Anne played a crucial role in the establishment of the Space Agency, as a board member and an executive and many of the students she supervised are now full-time researchers at Sansa and around the world,” reported Sansa. “She served as Sansa Space Science [MD] for 12 years and during this time made a tremendous contribution to the space science, skills development, and science engagement fields.”

On a personal note, this journalist always enjoyed interviewing Dr McKinnell, for whom she had a high regard. Dr McKinnell was always very welcoming and willing to answer any and all questions, and explain matters, in clear terms that were understandable to laypeople. Interviewing her was also always great fun. I will miss her.

Dr McKinnell was born in Vereeniging in 1970, daughter of an electrical engineer, who hoped she would also become an electrical engineer. And, Sansa noted, she became the first girl to complete a technical matric at the John Orr Engineering School of Specialisation. But she also became passionate about physics, so she pursued a BSc Physics and Electronics degree at university. Obtaining her BSc, she then secured her Honours, Masters and PhD degrees, all at Rhodes University (in the Eastern Cape province).

She started her career at Rhodes, as a junior lecturer. Later, in 2011, she was appointed an Honorary Research Professor at the university. In 2015 she gained an MBA, with distinction, from the Business School Netherlands. She was also a Postdoctoral Fellow at Graz University of Technology, in Austria.

Further, she served on many international working groups and committees. One of these, for which she was co-Chair, was that for Space Weather at the World Meteorological Organisation. She received many awards for her contributions to the sphere of space science.

Dr McKinnell is survived by her husband, John McKinnell, her parents, and her two brothers and their families.