Nasa chief scientist’s inspirational message for UAE students

ABU DHABI // Nasa is calling on the UAE and the wider global scientific community to help advance the future of space exploration.

That was the message from Nasa’s chief scientist Dr Ellen Stofan, who was at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday to deliver her lecture “Looking Outward, Inward, and Homeward”.

In the lecture, she explained Nasa’s research into climate change, microgravity’s effects on the human body, and the search for extraterrestrial life, among other topics.

She also said the future of space exploration relied on the ability of today’s students to learn to problem solve.

One of the big challenges facing Nasa’s scientists today is the bid to send someone to Mars.

It is unknown whether a human would be able to withstand the levels of radiation they would be subjected to on the red planet, she said.

Additionally, Nasa’s collective brain trust must figure out how to land its astronauts safely on Mars after entering its atmosphere at unimaginable speeds and subjecting them to “neck-snapping” g-forces.

Solving these puzzles, and beyond, will take not just an investment of study but also of funding, Dr Stofan said, because Nasa has to look beyond its own $18 billion budget.

“One of the big things about space exploration is that it is as expensive as it is complicated and you need all the countries of the world to help if you want to accomplish big goals,” she said.

This year, the UAE announced plans to send an unmanned probe the more than 60 million kilometres to Mars by 2021, hoping to become the first Arab country to lead a mission to another planet.

Dr Stofan applauded the initiative and said students should also focus on what lies beyond that information gathering mission.

“When the data comes back after 2021, that is another opportunity to maybe start thinking about the efforts of Nasa to get humans on Mars,” she said.

Nasa and the UAE space agency are in the early stages of collaboration and she said that her agency would like to work “hand in hand” with the UAE in the future.

“They [the UAE space agency] have looked at ‘what are the big questions out there, and how can we find a niche and contribute so that everyone moves forward together,” she said.

“Their approach is the exact right approach and that is why Nasa is happy to cooperate with them.”

Khalifa University has a department of aerospace engineering and university president Dr Tod Laursen said the school has been looking to develop its relationships with the UAE space agency and Nasa.

“Our primary purpose in bringing Dr Stofan here was to expose students to the big picture,” he said.

“To let them hear from the an expert about what people are trying to do with these technologies like measuring global warming, the science about how planets form.

“Our students don’t get this opportunity every day.”

Freshman Sultan Ahmed said that he found the lecture fascinating.

“I am in love with aerospace and exploring Mars,” he said.

“I really want to take part in that mission with it.”

esamoglou@thenational.ae