EMIRATI VISION, INDIAN INGENUITY
dubai — Mars spells ambition for the UAE that is relishing the prospect of colonising the Red Planet in hundred years. Across the seas, in India, this ambition met affordability on Wednesday with the launch of a record 104 satellites using the workhorse rocket, the PSLV. Among them was a nanosatellite developed by Emirati students, aptly named Nayif-1, which means ‘towering’ in Arabic.
Lofty ambitions and down to earth ideas are an ideal combination. Emirati innovation and Indian ingenuity are a perfect fit which could signal the beginning of a long and lasting partnership between them for future missions. In fact, agreements on space cooperation between the two sides were signed during state visits by leaders of the two countries.
The UAE plans to send a probe to Mars by 2021. An Indian satellite, Mangalyaan, is already orbiting the planet. Another is headed to the Moon next year even as the coun- try’s space agency sets its sights on Venus. There’s no shortage of ambition there, too, but the trick is to keep costs low as we fall under the spatial spell.
Commercial space launches are now much cheaper than Hollywood sci-fi movies as India’s missions have shown. In fact, the Indian Mars Orbiter Mission in 2013 cost less ($74 million) than the movie Gravity ($100 million) that was released the same year.
Space is not a hardsell for UAE’s ambitions anymore. A slice of life on planets is not a distant dream. It’s now soft reality, for a fraction of the cost and a load of determination, as Mars 2117 shows.
dubai — If Earth has become too overpopulated and polluted for you, then how about a residency on Mars? Some Emiratis are actually entertaining the idea for their future generations.
Khaleej Times spoke to a few Emiratis who would like to send their future children or grandchildren to live in the mini-city that the UAE plans on building on the Red Planet by 2117.
The announcement for the 2117 Mars mission was made on Tuesday and aims to help explore life on Mars, as well as discover ways to supply a small city on Mars with life, energy and food during its final phase. The entire project will be led by UAE nationals.
Hamad Rahma (24), an Emirati student in Dubai, believes that the next generations should start colonising the Red Planet for the “sake of science”.
He said: “If I’m still alive when my grandkids are born, I would ship them off to Mars. We have made great discoveries on this planet, but now it’s time to explore beyond what is in front of us. Christopher Columbus and other explorers sailed through oceans hundreds of years ago, now it’s our turn to
We lived a good life on earth; humans are pioneers, but it’s time for the next generation to explore the endless possibilities that is space.”
Hamad Ismail, A trainee aircraft engineer in Dubai
reach other planets with our advanced technology.”
A psychology student in Dubai, Khawla Sabil (23), is also hoping her grandchildren will become Martians one day and might study about their “ancestors who lived on a planet called Earth”. However, she wants to make sure the mini city would be able to provide basic human necessities for her future family.
Sabil said: “It will be great if my grandchildren can live there, but only if they can provide everything for what a human needs. I will absolutely send them there, but I just want to make sure my grandchildren can live there peacefully.”
A trainee aircraft engineer in Dubai, Hamad Ismail, thinks his grandkids will find a better and easier life on the Red Planet.
The 23-year-old said: “They say adventure lies in every corner on earth, but what about space? We lived a good life on earth; humans are pioneers, but it’s time for the next generation to explore the endless possibilities that is space. It would be an opportunity to start fresh — no corruption, no war and no pollution. And maybe this time, they won’t slowly decay the planet.”
The UAE isn’t the first to plan a colonisation scheme on the Red Planet. The Mars One programme was launched in 2011 and aims to send four people to build a colony in the future.
Bas Lansdorp, the CEO of Mars One, welcomed UAE’s efforts in this field. He told Khaleej Times: “The UAE is known for dreaming big and implementing those dreams successfully. It’s only just over 100 years ago that the first airplane flew — is it really unimaginable that there could be a city on Mars in 2117? Mars One is really happy that new players like the UAE and India put Mars exploration higher on the international space agenda.”