UAE's Mars 2117 is put in action

Remember when the world went crazy as UAE leadership announced their intention to build the first city on Mars over the next century? 

The plan is now put to action as Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) is asked to lead the Mars 2117 project by setting a "generation plan" for the next 100 years focusing on nurturing the next generation of Emirati cadres in space science field. 

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai directed the center on Wednesday to also put forward a detailed 5-year plan to build local talents in space science, research and Robotics and study the technical and logistical aspects of the Mars project.

With over 100 young Emirati scientists and engineers of an average age of 27 years old and 40 per cent females, the space center had already started working on the manufacturing of the the first Arab unmanned 'Hope probe' set to launch to Mars in 2021 as part of the Emirates Mars Mission.

But the mission is bigger now with a plan to facilitate building a city on the red planet, besides preparing the first Emirati imaging satellite that will be launched in 2018. 

A media plan will also be established to follow up with the Mars 2117 implementation and bring it to local, regional and international public opinion that showed big interest in the Mars project since its announcement earlier this month, at the conclusion of the World Government Summit 2017.  

Mars2117 Project will be initiated by a team of Emirati scientists before expanding to enlist scientists and researchers from all over the world. 

Sheikh Mohammed also instructed the space center to introduce scientific research programmes that nurture and develop new passion of knowledge among the coming generations at schools and universities across the country, besides focusing on research programs that will have significant impact on important technical sectors to achieve the country's development. 

He emphasized the importance of inspiring the new generations to raise their ambitions, expanding their knowledge horizons and stimulating scientific curiosity to serve the future of the UAE and its development plans. 

The project aims to add an Emirati fingerprint on the progress of human knowledge. "The new limit of the ambitions that we set for our future generations is space. The limit of our aspirations is the sky," he said. 

 The first phase of the Mars 2117 will focus on preparing the human cadres able to achieve scientific breakthrough to facilitate the arrival of human to the Red Planet in the next decades.

The  knowledge outcomes of the research project will be available for all international research institutions, adding that the objective of the research is to contribute to facilitating people lives on earth as well, mainly in the domains of transportation, energy and food. It will also try to find faster transportation methods for traveling to and from Mars.

The 100-year plan also aims to prepare an Emiratis scientists' team and to develop an international scientific consortium to speed up the research project. 

sherouk@khaleejtimes.com

Sherouk Zakaria

"Born and raised in UAE, Sherouk Zakaria is a Senior Correspondent at Khaleej Times. Joined since May 2016, she covers Dubai Municipality, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), special events and humanitarian issues. Her choice of journalism as a career stems from her passion of telling people's stories and writing to inspire or make a difference. In her free time, she's an occasional theater and film actress. Sherouk received her BA in Mass Communications from the American University in Sharjah in 2013. Before joining Khaleej Times, she was a senior lifestyle/entertainment editor for a magazine in Dubai."