• Home
• /
• UAE

Dubai: MBRSC gifts Ghaf tree seeds to Australia's governor-general

Hurley lauded the UAE’s space exploration initiatives during his visit

---

---

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) on Monday gifted Ghaf tree seeds to David Hurley, Australia's governor-general.

Hazza Al Mansoori, the first Emirati astronaut, brought the Ghaf tree seeds with him him to the International Space Station (ISS) during his historic space flight.

Hurley gave his Emirati host seeds of Australia’s national floral emblem, the Golden Wattle tree, which also travelled to the ISS as part of the Asian Herbs in Space programme, of which both the UAE and Australia are participants.

During the visit, Hurley received a detailed briefing on MBRSC’s current and future projects, including the UAE Satellite Programme, UAE Astronaut Programme, Emirates Mars Mission, Emirates Lunar Mission and the UAE’s Mars 2117 Strategy, part of the UAE National Space Programme, which seeks to build a human colony on the Red Planet through the Mars Science City.

ALSO READ:

• Expo 2020 Dubai: Sheikh Mohammed, Governor-General of Australia discuss bilateral ties

• SpaceOps23: How the UAE is planning to 'serve Earth and beyond' next year

Part of the visit included a tour of the MBRSC’s space laboratories as well as the mission control centre.

Salem Humaid Al Marri, director, MBRSC welcomed the visit and stressed the importance of collaboration among nations to ensure that advances in space exploration will benefit the entire human race, now and into the future.

Meanwhile, Hurley lauded the UAE’s space exploration initiatives, noting its positive impact to inspire innovations that will enable the space industry to contribute to a future of sustainable growth for the world.

• Dubai