SHARJAH: The successful entry of the UAE Hope probe into orbit around Mars is a historic event on scientific, educational and strategic levels. Indeed, for the first time ever, an Arab nation has surpassed space science and applied technology (satellites, essentially) and successful investment and participation in space exploration.
It is important to reaffirm the broad and wide-ranging slogan of the mission, “Arabs to Mars,” which reinforces the idea that this project is more than just the UAE joining a select club of space countries. It is about leading an Arab world to a deep place, into the future.
Now that the Hope probe is set for its scientific agenda and the UAE is to become a science-making nation in the field of space, it is important to reflect on the significance of this event for the Arab world and the sights it opens up for people.
As well as the scientific agenda of the mission (providing an in-depth, intimate, and global study of the Martian atmosphere), the likely impact of this will be on the Arab world, especially the ambitious youth his, multicolored and strong.
In fact, this quantum leap event tells the Arabs – or at least that is how it should be understood – that science is the way to the future, and Mars (with its all scientific and technical knowledge gained) just a record for the future.
Since the launch of Hope, last July, and then the Chinese mission to Mars, Tianwen-1, and the American one, Mars 2020, I have seen a significant shift in the attitudes expressed by many Arabs and humans in the area of expression.
Until then, most people seemed overwhelmed by the hopeful “waste” intention (although $ 200 million isn’t really much for such a big effort) and often asked “ What is the benefit? ”,“ Why not spend money helping the poor around the world. ”
In fact, the utilitarian stance is so prevalent in the Arab world that I took part in a panel with July “two weeks before Hope was launched,“ Why do I spend money on space science? ”, A question that will be asked of me over and over again.
My response, depending on my interlocutors or audience, usually revolves around the following points. First, before anyone criticizes space science budgets (a whopping sum of about $ 50 billion worldwide, earning an average of $ 6.5 per year per person), they should take a look on military budgets ($ 1,750 billion worldwide in 2019, 35 times more than the global space budget).
Second, space science offers many direct benefits (think of all satellite applications, starting with GPS, which we all use almost every day) as well as some or -direct, as we explore, discover, learn, expand our horizons, and think. of new things.
Last but not least, the place is a field that is enjoyed by people, especially young people, and leads them into various exciting careers that are beneficial to their countries and to the world at large.
MORE SITES: UAE probe ‘Hope’ sends home the first image of Mars
The UAE Hope Probe was scheduled to release the first complete picture of Mars in one week
Interestingly, since the launch of Hope, I’ve heard the “why are you spending money on Mars and space” view so often. Ideas of science, technology and place in the region are being explored, and it will be very interesting to see how these ideas have evolved recently and how they will evolve in the future.
It is worth noting that in the decade following John Kennedy’s “to the moon” news, the number of Ph.D. three times the number of U.S. curators in the physical sciences and a quadrilateral in engineering. And a 2009 study found that 50 percent of internationally renowned scientists published in Nature (a leading scientific research journal) were motivated to become scientists by the U.S. lunar program.
I am convinced that Hope’s mission will have the same impact in the Arab world. We are already seeing such results in the UAE, where the number of students choosing physics, astronomy and space has increased in recent years.
If Hope’s mission brings out that kind of educational impact in the vast Arab world, it will be a remarkable, transformative achievement that historians have debated for decades or even centuries.
In fact, I believe the project can achieve even greater goals than that higher education goal. It could also lead to a quantum leap in the production of science and technology in the Arab world.
How could that be achieved? First, Arab scientists, decision-makers, and theorists must accept the kind of “basic” (i.e., unused) science and knowledge that space exploration uses. production. Simply put, Arab countries cannot be “developed” by restricting their development to functional areas; technology goes hand in hand with science, and with wider knowledge.
It is no coincidence that astronomy (which has few direct applications in our daily lives) was the first major science to flourish and flourish during Arab-Islamic civilization and the last one gone. And yet, today, the number of astronomers working properly and doing science in the entire Arab world can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Most Arab countries have places and weather that want to build celestial observatories, which is not very expensive; this should be followed promptly and earnestly.
Similarly, several Arab countries, notably the UAE and Oman, are in a geographical position (low latitude, eastward sea or ocean, etc.) to host space rocket launch facilities. This could be one of the next projects to start, to build platforms from where both our own rockets and others should be launched (for profit).
Furthermore, as we have seen with NASA for the last 60 years or so, technological output from space programs can be accepted and applied to other areas of life and economy, such as medical facilities, transportation, tele- communication and more.
Last but not least, the new Arab space strategy (at least six states now have space agencies) should lead to important reviews of Arab education programs. Universities need to revisit, refresh, and update their curricula, including the creation of new departments and specialists (space science, artificial intelligence, etc.).
It is not permissible, or even logical, for the Arab world to have half a dozen space agencies but fewer space science departments and specialized programs.
We urgently need to train students in both applied space science (e.g., remote sensing) and astronomy (Mars and beyond), to support and contribute to the work of the Arab space agencies. Of course, we need a wider renewal and renewal of higher education programs in the Arab world, but that is another debate.
Hope’s mission to Mars can be truly transformative if everyone aims high and believes that science is the key to an economy based on knowledge and the future. Let us use this historic event to rebuild Arab scientific, technological and educational institutions, to strengthen national, regional and international collaborations, and to give Arab youth a vision and plan for the future clear.
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Nidhal Guessoum is a professor of physics and astronomy at the American University of Sharjah. Twitter: @NidhalGuessoum