Registration to apply as UAE astronaut closing soon

Dubai - More than 3,000 applicants are about to go through a series of medical and psychometric assessments.

Ahmed Al Ali, a Boeing 777 captain with 8,000 hours of flight-time experience, is one of the potential candidates for the UAE Astronaut Programme. Ali hopes he will be one of the four Emirati astronauts that will fly into outer space. 
Registration for the programme is officially closing on March 31 and more than 3,000 applicants are about to go through a series of medical and psychometric assessments. Only four of them will be chosen end of this year and will jet off into space after two years of training - becoming the first ever Emiratis to go outside of planet Earth.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre held an introductory workshop for more than 200 potential candidates, mainly government employees, that were nominated by their companies to become astronauts.
Ali, who has been a pilot for 12 years, was one of them who attended. He told Khaleej Times that he wants to become an astronaut so he can "save humanity" and ensure that humans have a "back-up planet" to live on.
"I have 8,000 hours of flight experience - that's almost like spending one year in semi-space environment above the planet Earth," Ali, 35, said.
"I don't want to break any records and I don't even want to be the first UAE national to go to space. The reason I want to go there is to save humanity. I want to do that because if we remain a single planet species, we are headed for extinction. On the 777, why do we have two engines? So that you have a backup in case one engine fails, but on Planet Earth, what do we have as a back up? Nothing."
Ali tried applying for NASA before, however, was rejected because only US citizens can qualify to join them.
Hence, the UAE Astronauts Programme was a dream come true for Ali.
"I can dedicate my life for this. I can sacrifice for the UAE and for humanity. I can do any kind of experiment to benefit humanity and to save this planet so we can remain alive in another planet," he said.
There are also hundreds of females that have applied to become astronauts. Mahra Al Khaja is one of them. She studied electrical engineering, but, now works as a project manager in the IT department at Emirates Global Aluminum.
"Since I was young, I always wanted to be an astronaut. Teachers used to ask what we wanted to be when we grow up and some used to say doctors or engineers. When I answered astronaut - everyone laughed, but now it's becoming a reality," said Al Khaja.
"I hope that I become one of the top four that will be selected, especially being a female. I always wanted to be above Earth, so, I'm very passionate about it. They asked me if I'm scared about going to space, but, not at all."
Another hopeful is Ahmed Aldarwish, who is a flight operations engineer. He said he is willing to go through any kind of training to ensure he is one of the four astronauts.
He became interested in space in 1990 and began studying space engineering.
"I know it's going to be tough competition. There are people with different backgrounds - some of them are probably better than me and I might be better than some of them. But, still, it's a competition. We have to go through different phases. I will give it my best because this is something I really want. I'm very well prepared for anything and I'm ready for any surprises that come my way," he said.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

About 3,000 candidates will be going through a series of medical psychometric assessments, all in efforts to find the best four Emirati astronauts that will jet into space. 
Registrations to apply as astronauts in the UAE Astronaut Programme are closing on March 31. The top ten will be selected towards the end of the year, followed by the selection of the final four.
Amel Amin, head of education at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and selection lead for UAE Astronaut Programme, said that there is very specific criteria that the candidates must meet.
"We will be dividing the selection process into two phases," she said. "We will start with medical and psychometric assessments to look at the physical attributes of that person and if they are healthy, will they be able to live in stress in the ISS, their personality and if they have the competency that we are looking for. Then, we will do the interviews and we will narrow down the number.
"Once the people pass the first phase, they will partake in a more in-depth medical and psychometric exam. And then they will go into a panel interview phase, where we will select the top 10 and then we will choose the top four."
"We want to select the best four in the UAE. We don't want to select based on gender, but someone, regardless of gender, who represents the UAE well. Our astronauts should be people who have a background in science, STEM, pilots, engineering or an operational background."
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com

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