[ad_1]
The United Arab Emirates are about to send their first astronaut into space. This is a milestone in an ambitious nascent space program for an oil-rich country, the size of Maine, located south of the Persian Gulf. Next year, he plans to send a robotic robot to Mars, and his leaders are talking about colonizing the red planet in a century.
UAE officials hope the space will inspire and train a generation of engineers and scientists able to prepare the country for a post-petroleum future.
When is the launch?
Takeoff is at 9:57 pm Eastern time. NASA television will broadcast the coverage of the launch starting at 9:00 am Three astronauts will leave a spaceport in Kazakhstan in a Russian Soyuz capsule, the only spacecraft on Earth able to travel to the International Space Station. The Soyuz will make a quick six-hour trip to the space station. NASA will also cover its scheduled arrival 15:45.
Early Wednesday, the Russian space agency confirmed the program and astronauts were shown towards the launch site.
Who is the emirati astronaut?
Hazzaa al-Mansoori is a former Emirati pilot of F-16. Jessica Meir from NASA and Oleg Skripochka from Russia will also be present.
"I will try to remember every second of the launch itself," said Mr Mansoori at a press conference this month. "Because it will be very much important for me to share it with everyone and my country, the whole world and the Arab region. "
The station will be congested for the next eight days with nine occupants before three of them, including Mr. al-Mansoori, return to Earth on October 3rd.
Why the U.A.E.E. to send an astronaut into space?
During his stay in orbit, Mr. al-Mansoori will participate in a series of experiments and will conduct a tour of the space station in Arabic.
But his trip will also highlight new opportunities for countries seeking to enter the race to space. The UAE is not part of the consortium of countries participating in the International Space Station. Two years ago, the country had no astronauts either.
In December 2017, Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, a Dubai leader who is one of seven sheikhs in North America, posted on Twitter the nation's plan to launch a manned space flight program.
Without rockets or spaceships, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space CenterIn Dubai, the Russian space agency bought a seat in Soyuz, in the same way that wealthy space tourists also bought trips to the space station. This is why NASA has called Mr al-Mansoori "Participant in a space flight" and not as a professional astronaut.
The price has not been revealed publicly.
Among more than 4,000 candidates wishing to occupy the Soyuz seat, the space center has selected two: Mr. al-Mansoori and his deputy, Sultan al-Neyadi.
Mr. Mansoori, 35, is the father of four children.
The two headed to Russia for training, including outdoor survival techniques, in case the Soyuz return capsule landed in the distance. Mr. al-Mansoori has posted on Twitter information about his experiences as an astronaut, mainly in Arabic, sometimes in English:
Some of the experiments that Mr. al-Mansoori will lead are already waiting for him on the space station. NanoRacks, a Houston-based company, collaborated with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in a contest that selected 32 experiences from UAE students who are studying the effect of weightlessness on materials such as sand, steel, corn oil, cement and egg whites.
Additional Emirati experiments include a study on oil emulsification in a weightless environment, as well as a second to germinate a native palm date seed of the country.
What are the other plans of U.A.E.E. to have space?
NanoRacks announced last week the opening of an office in Abu Dhabi, the largest emirate.
"They really want to become a space-based country," said Jeffrey Manber, general manager of NanoRacks. "To be honest, I also like the fact that they work comfortably with Russia, that they work comfortably with China and that they work comfortably with the United States and the United States." 39, European Space Agency. I think it is a model for the future. "
Euroconsult, an international consulting firm specializing in space markets, announced that the emirate had spent $ 383 million in space last year. That's a lot less than the $ 41 billion spent by the United States or even the $ 1.5 billion invested by India, but that's more than what Canada has spent .
In March, Virgin Galactic signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Arab Emirates Space Agency to create a spaceport in the country.
Next year, the Emirates are planning to launch their mission on Mars, a spacecraft called Hope. The probe, placed over a Japanese rocket, will carry five instruments to study the loss of hydrogen and oxygen gas in the upper parts of the Martian atmosphere.
For Hope, the Emirates collaborates with three American universities: the University of Colorado, Arizona State University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Who were the astronauts of the Arab world before?
Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, a member of the royal family of Saudi Arabia, was the first Arab and Muslim to visit space as a member of a space shuttle mission to the NASA in 1985. He now heads the Saudi Space Agency.
Muhammed Ahmed Faris, a Syrian military pilot, went to the Russian Mir space station in 1987.
[ad_2]
Source link