Emirati pilot Shareef Al Romaithi is swapping the skies for an arduous simulation mission to enhance global ambitions to journey to Mars.
He is part of a Nasa project that places volunteers in near-isolation inside a habitat in Houston, Texas, for 45 days, where they live and work like astronauts travelling to Mars.
This will be the second mission for the UAE after another Emirati, Saleh Al Ameri, spent eight months replicating deep-space travel conditions in Moscow across 2021 and 2022.
Mr Al Romaithi, 39, a captain for Etihad Airways, will be starting his “journey to Mars” on May 10 when he and three of his crew members get locked inside the Human Exploration Research Analogue habitat.
They will exit the habitat, or “start their return to Earth”, on June 24.
The UAE's involvement in the crucial research programme was first revealed by The National in 2022.
Who is Shareef Al Romaithi?
Mr Al Romaithi has a stellar career in the airline industry, with more than 16 years of experience as a pilot. He currently commands Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft as a captain for Etihad Airways.
The Abu Dhabi native has more than 9,000 flight hours, including on multiple Airbus and Boeing aircraft.
He earned a doctorate in aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the age of 31, which made him the youngest and eighth graduate to attain a doctorate in aviation at the time.
He is also an entrepreneur, having set up the Madari Space company, which focuses on launching data centres into space to mitigate the amount of carbon emissions produced on Earth.
His company is among many operating in the economic zone dedicated to space.
“There are thousands of data centres across the globe, and they consume a lot of energy for cooling purposes,” Mr Romaithi told The National in an earlier interview.
“This emits CO2 and greenhouse gases that exceed [those of] the aviation and shipping industries.
“By developing data centres in space, we can utilise unlimited power from the Sun to run the centres in a sustainable approach, while providing secure platforms for governments to save critical data.”
He said his company was at an early stage of developing data modules and is searching for launch providers to blast their final product into space.
What will his mission involve?
The project will help scientists study how humans adapt to isolation, confinement and remote conditions so that Nasa can send astronauts on deep-space missions one day.
The UAE is participating in this because it also hopes to send its astronauts to Mars in the future, including building a settlement by 2117.
Crew members will carry out scientific research and operational tasks throughout their simulated mission to the Red Planet, including a “walk” on Mars’s surface using virtual reality.
They will experience increasing communication delays lasting up to five minutes each way with Mission Control Centre as they “near” Mars.
Mr Romaithi will also be carrying out six experiments for universities in the UAE, including the United Arab Emirates University, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences and the American University of Sharjah.
This is the second group of volunteers to participate in the Hera mission this year, with the previous one completing theirs on March 18.
Two other missions will follow this year, with the final Hera crew slated to finish on December 20.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Gifts exchanged
- King Charles - replica of President Eisenhower Sword
- Queen Camilla - Tiffany & Co vintage 18-carat gold, diamond and ruby flower brooch
- Donald Trump - hand-bound leather book with Declaration of Independence
- Melania Trump - personalised Anya Hindmarch handbag
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh359,000
On sale: now
Your rights as an employee
The government has taken an increasingly tough line against companies that fail to pay employees on time. Three years ago, the Cabinet passed a decree allowing the government to halt the granting of work permits to companies with wage backlogs.
The new measures passed by the Cabinet in 2016 were an update to the Wage Protection System, which is in place to track whether a company pays its employees on time or not.
If wages are 10 days late, the new measures kick in and the company is alerted it is in breach of labour rules. If wages remain unpaid for a total of 16 days, the authorities can cancel work permits, effectively shutting off operations. Fines of up to Dh5,000 per unpaid employee follow after 60 days.
Despite those measures, late payments remain an issue, particularly in the construction sector. Smaller contractors, such as electrical, plumbing and fit-out businesses, often blame the bigger companies that hire them for wages being late.
The authorities have urged employees to report their companies at the labour ministry or Tawafuq service centres — there are 15 in Abu Dhabi.
Company%20profile
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