An Emirati who has spent seven months in near-isolation in a Russian space simulator is a month away from returning to the outside world.
Since November, Saleh Al Ameri, 31, has lived with five international crew members who are all part of a research programme designed to advance understanding of journeys into deep space.
They have been carrying out experiments at the NEK experimental complex in Moscow as part of the Sirius 20/21 project.
Mr Al Ameri, a mechanical engineer, and his team members, three Russians and two Americans, will complete the eight-month-long experiment on July 1.
They have had no access to social media or the internet since November 4, while contact with family has been limited.
The project replicates missions to the Moon and Mars and tests the psychological and physiological effects on humans living in extreme environments such as space travel.
“The biggest challenge for me, apart from the isolation, is the lack of information and communication with people in the outside world,” said Mr Al Ameri in an earlier interview with The National.
“We don’t have internet or social media platforms here. If we want to know something, the only way is to ask the people in the mission control centre. To overcome these things, we try to keep ourselves busy.”
This is the UAE’s first analogue mission. The crew are using simulators and virtual reality headsets to carry out long-duration space missions, including trips to the International Space Station, Moon-orbiting station Lunar Gateway and on the lunar surface.
So far, Mr Al Ameri has “driven” a lunar rover on the Moon’s surface to collect samples and transported them to a lunar base.
He has piloted a spaceship and docked it with the ISS and the Lunar Gateway and has flown in the orbit of the Moon and Mars.
The UAE is to join a similar mission with Nasa, with an Emirati prepared to participate in the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analogue (Hera) programme in 2023.
Hera is a three-storey habitat that offers isolation, confinement and remote conditions that are experienced during space exploration missions.
There have been six campaigns in the programme so far, each of which included four to five missions and ranged in duration from one to 45 days. It is not clear how long the mission involving the Emirati participant will be.
These experiments are important for the UAE’s space programme, with ambitions to send astronauts to Moon one day and build a base on Mars by 2117.
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
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Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
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Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
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Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
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Lexus LX700h specs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Super Rugby play-offs
Quarter-finals
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- Crusaders 17, Highlanders 0
- Lions 23, Sharks 21
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Semi-finals
Saturday, July 29
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- Lions v Hurricanes, 4.30pm
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Wales 20-19 France
Wales: T: Wainwright, Moriarty. Cons: Biggar (2) Pens: Biggar 2
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New Zealand v France, second Test
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Auckland, New Zealand
South Africa v Wales
Sunday, 12.40am (UAE), San Juan, Argentina
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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