Five things to do at Expo's Space Week, from meeting astronauts to touching a Moon rock


Sarwat Nasir
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Space Week at Expo 2020 Dubai is promising a stellar experience, from meet-and-greets with astronauts to a chance to look through powerful telescopes providing a peek into the cosmos.

From Sunday, October 17 to Saturday, October 23, astronauts from Nasa, the UAE, Italy and Japan will meet visitors and field questions about life in space.

It is the perfect event for space enthusiasts, especially young people who are considering careers in the Stem subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Scientists, engineers and space leaders will also participate in several conferences during the week.

On October 17, the first gathering by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will be held at the Dubai Exhibition Centre South Hall 2A, from 10.15am to 5.15pm. To attend, visitors must register online.

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet speaks to visitors at Expo 2020 Dubai's Al Wasl Dome live from the International Space Station. Victor Besa / The National.
French astronaut Thomas Pesquet speaks to visitors at Expo 2020 Dubai's Al Wasl Dome live from the International Space Station. Victor Besa / The National.

Titled ‘The People’s Mission: Citizens in Space Exploration’, the conference will feature Emirati, Swedish and Russian astronauts.

On October 19, Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Sciences and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, will address the Space Business Forum.

Ms Al Amiri will also speak on October 20 at the Space: Where the World Comes Together for Progress conference.

The forums will also be live-streamed online.

The National highlights some of the out-of-this-world activities visitors can expect during the week.

Meet astronauts and ask questions

On October 17, the UAE’s first astronaut Maj Hazza Al Mansouri and his colleague, the Arab world's first female astronaut, Nora Al Matrooshi, will meet the public.

They will speak from 2pm to 3.15pm at the Dubai Exhibition Centre – near the metro station at the Expo site – at a conference that is open to the public once they register online.

Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang and Russian cosmonaut and rocket scientist Sergei Krikalev will also be interacting with the public.

Emirati astronauts Dr Sultan Al Neyadi and Mohammed Al Mulla are also attending the conference.

Throughout the week, many other astronauts will be attending different forums, including Soichi Noguchi, from Japan, who flew on SpaceX Crew-1 mission.

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, who survived a water leak in his helmet during a spacewalk in 2013, will be at the Italian pavilion on October 19, from 4pm to 6pm.

Peek into deep space using telescopes

Visitors can observe galaxies and nebulae in the deep-sky using a powerful telescope available in the France pavilion.

The telescope has been provided by Unistellar and offers vivid colours and details.

It will be on show from October 20 to October 23.

Learn about UAE’s Mars mission

The UAE made history this year when its Hope probe arrived on Mars. The spacecraft has sent back a wealth of data, with 110 gigabytes of it already released online for free.

Omran Sharaf, the mission director, will be speaking to the public on October 17, sometime between 12.15pm to 1.30pm at the Dubai Exhibition Centre.

The Mars satellite reached orbit on February 9 to study the planet’s atmosphere.

Touch a rock from the Moon

At the US pavilion, a rock brought from the Moon will be on display.

Visitors can not only look, but also touch the space object and take photos of it.

The mare basalt is estimated to be about 3.75 billion years old and is older than nearly all Earth surface rocks.

It was collected during one of the Apollo missions.

A Martian meteorite sample found during the 2012-2013 season in Antarctica is also on display.

Hear from UAE space chief Sarah Al Amiri

Minister Al Amiri will give opening remarks for the Space Business Forum, taking place on October 19 at the Dubai Exhibition Centre.

The forum will bring together leaders in the private and public space sector to discuss economic potential from exploring space resources, such as Moon mining.

For those interested in learning about careers in the space sector and developing space technology, this forum is recommended.

Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
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6026 – Dh 200

Multitasking pays off for money goals

Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.

That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.

"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.

Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."

People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.

"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."

Roger Federer's 2018 record

Australian Open Champion

Rotterdam Champion

Indian Wells Runner-up

Miami Second round

Stuttgart Champion

Halle Runner-up

Wimbledon Quarter-finals

Cincinnati Runner-up

US Open Fourth round

Shanghai Semi-finals

Basel Champion

Paris Masters Semi-finals

 

 

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
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Persuasion
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The Bio

Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”

Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”

Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”

Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”

65
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THURSDAY FIXTURES

4.15pm: Italy v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: Egypt v Mexico (Group B)
6.45pm: UAE v Japan (Group A)
8pm: Iran v Russia (Group B)

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier. 

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.  

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. 

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue

Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)

Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

The specs

Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel

Power: 579hp

Torque: 859Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh825,900

On sale: Now

The specs
Engine: 2.4-litre 4-cylinder

Transmission: CVT auto

Power: 181bhp

Torque: 244Nm

Price: Dh122,900 

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.

The hotels

Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.

The tours

A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages. 

PSG's line up

GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)

Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)

Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)

Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)

Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)

Players Selected for La Liga Trials

U18 Age Group
Name: Ahmed Salam (Malaga)
Position: Right Wing
Nationality: Jordanian

Name: Yahia Iraqi (Malaga)
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Morocco

Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
Position: Centre-Midfield
Nationality: French

Name: Mohammed Rajeh (Cadiz)
Position: Striker
Nationality: Jordanian

U16 Age Group
Name: Mehdi Elkhamlichi (Malaga)
Position: Lead Striker
Nationality: Morocco

'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'

Director:Michael Lehmann

Stars:Kristen Bell

Rating: 1/5

Wydad 2 Urawa 3

Wydad Nahiri 21’, Hajhouj 90'

Urawa Antonio 18’, 60’, Kashiwagi 26’

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

Updated: October 16, 2021, 3:00 AM`