Aim For Moon, Reach Mars? UAE Official Says 70% Of Country's Focus On Lunar Missions

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Although settling on Mars is the UAE's main objective in space exploration, 70 per cent of the country's focus today is on missions around the moon, an official at Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) said.

In a discussion at the World Governments Summit, Salem Humaid Al Marri, Director-General of MBRSC, said that exploring the moon is a crucial step in discovering life on Mars, as the UAE has bold ambitions to establish human settlements on the red planet by the year 2117 .

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Moon, then Mars

Al Marri explained that exploring the moon first is important for the UAE as data discovered there can be applied to Mars. This means that any developments on the moon, which is the centre's focus for the next five years, can then be utilised for Mars exploration.

Director-General of UAE Space Agency Salem Al Qubaisi, who was also part of the panel discussion, added that the missions sent to Mars will help civilisation back on Earth. Mars' climate data can be used by scientists to understand climate change on different celestial bodies.

Additionally, as the first Arab country leading the charge in space exploration, MBRSC's director-general hopes the next step is for an Emirati to set foot on the moon's surface“in the next 10 years.” Al Marri added that the centre will do everything it can to make sure that that happens.

UAE's unique situation

Though the country is 53-years-young, the UAE has managed to position itself at the forefront of space exploration, thanks to the vision of the leadership, Al Marri said. He added that the UAE is unique in that the vision came before funding, whereas in other countries enacting policies and strategies comes first.

“That's what happened at MBRSC in 2005,” Al Marri said.“It really started from very, very humble, small beginnings of three or four people that were sent on a technology transfer programme to try and learn how to develop these systems and about ten years later, you're looking at satellites built in the UAE missions to Mars.”

Al Qubaisi added that a comment made by the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, resonated with him.“I remember that he said, the day we stop taking on challenges is the day that the UAE stops going forward. And that's a pivotal baseline for the whole space agency. We are taking challenges and going further.”

Advice for aspiring astronauts

Other than the skills that aspiring young astronauts are expected to have, like engineering, science, and math, Al Marri told Khaleej Times that "the soft skills are much, much more important."

Arriving on time and completing work before clocking out for the day are all part of essential soft skills that make a big difference, Al Marri said.

“I think these types of commitments allow younger people to put a standard for work and life, which, if they uphold throughout their career, will get them really far,” he added.

Al Marri also highlighted the importance of keeping up to date with emerging technologies and not only relying on knowledge gained in university. He said that students should strive to learn throughout their career no matter how old they get, as technologies evolve very quickly. He added:“Never stop learning; what you learned 20 years ago is not going to help you 25 years later.”

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