The New News from Space
With so much happening, from the pandemic to the slow reopening of the global economy, you might have missed the flood of space news this month.
By Xische Editorial, April 20, 2021
Source: rautanstudio/Envato
With so much happening from the pandemic to the slow reopening of the global economy, you might have missed the flood of space news this month. By far the most historic news of recent days was the successful flight of Nasa’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter. The drone-like device became the first aircraft in history to make a powered, controlled flight on another planet. While this might not sound like much, recall that Mars has a completely different atmosphere than Earth. Scientists and engineers from Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have spent years designing an aircraft that can fly around the Red Planet. With this flight, a new era of exploration is upon us. We can hardly wait to see what will be uncovered.
As Nasa continues its historic mission to Mars, other space-related events have unfolded closer to home. The UAE’s ambitious space programme is kicking into full gear with a raft of new developments. The UAE announced the addition of new astronauts including the first woman to join the Emirati astronaut programme, announced a new date for its Moon rover mission, and furthered its plans to establish a city on Mars.
Let’s dig in. Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla will join Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi as UAE astronauts. Al Matrooshi will be the Arab world’s first female astronaut. The 27-year-old mechanical engineer will be carrying the hopes and dreams of millions of Arab women across the region on her shoulders as she embarks on the training program that will one day send her into space. Mohammed Al Mulla is a veteran pilot with more than 1500 flight hours under his belt.
The decision to select an Emirati woman as the newest member of the astronaut programme reflects the country’s commitment to gender equality across all sectors of society. The UAE has taken bold actions to entrench the position of women into the essence of Emirati society. This extends from recent announcements requiring female participation on the boards of Emirati companies to the selection of Nora Al Matrooshi to the space program. The inseparable link between space exploration and the advancement of society on Earth is on clear display here. It extends to the other space news that you might have missed from the last month on earth.
The next chapter in the development of the UAE space program will be on the Moon. Working with Japan’s iSpace, the UAE plans to send a rover to the Moon by 2022, two years ahead of schedule. The focus is currently on unmanned missions to the Moon but the greater goal is the creation of a human settlement on the Moon with more than 1000 people living there. According to The National, the Rashid rover “will carry out a number of scientific objectives including studying the properties of lunar soil, the petrography and geology of the Moon, dust movement and studying the lunar surface plasma condition and photoelectron sheath.”
These developments are all part of a much larger objective, which is the creation of a city on Mars by 2117. Emirati space officials reaffirmed their commitment to this incredible objective this week. “We always say that the Moon is the first step in developing science technologies, building our capabilities,” Adnan Al Rais, director of the Mars 2117 programme at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, told reporters. "Not only the robotics but also the human aspects as well, so one day we’ll be capable of sending humans to Mars."
This is the very definition of a Moon shot (or a Mars shot) and that’s very important for the next chapter in the UAE story. Back in 2019, we wrote about moon shots. Thinking about the city on Mars, our perspectives immediately come back. The essence of a moon shot, we wrote, is the distillation of the aspirations and ambitions of a group of people. A moon shot is about people, first and foremost. Sending humans to the moon in the 1960s was a global ambition with a western complexion and the United States emerged as the front runner. Technology was one tool that made the original moon shot possible. Technology wielded by a dedicated community with a nationwide support system put a man on the moon. This technology and knowledge have long since spread around the globe. Now the UAE has embraced its promise and hope.
Transforming Dubai from a sleepy fishing village to one of the world’s leading cities in less than three decades is a moon shot. The people that achieved this feat are now turning their sights on Mars and if history is any guide, they will succeed in transforming what we believe is possible with their quest. Regardless of whether a city is created by 2117 or not, the process of attempting this moon shot will change the UAE’s knowledge economy. The mission is a message for the next generation of Emirati scientists, coders, and engineers that anything is possible. It is an inspirational message that resonates far beyond the borders of the UAE. As news continues to come in from space, bear in mind that the UAE’s space programme is hard at work on the next moon shot. You can see the effects of this dream on every corning in the country.
