ALLAN JACOB (ABU DHABI)
All eyes are on the UAE as US space agency NASA plans lunar missions more than 50 years after its last manned journey to the Moon in 1972. NASA’s special partnership with the UAE shows the prominence the nation has gained in the global space sector.
The US space agency is clearly in Moon 2.0 mode with the UAE as its principal partner. Three more space agencies – Japan Aerospace Exploration, European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency – have joined hands for the massive project to build a “home” in the Moon’s orbit and to venture out on its surface.
This time around, it promises to be a more permanent, though long-distance relationship between the Earth and its Moon with plans to build a lunar station, much like the International Space Station orbiting the Earth.
The UAE’s own astronauts could set foot on the lunar surface to explore the Moon’s mysteries under a pathbreaking project named Artemis that looks beyond - to Mars.
NASA acknowledged the UAE’s role in Artemis’ Lunar Gateway station it is building with the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRC) and four other agencies. US Vice President Kamala Harris hailed the partnership, that combines skills, talent, and resources from both countries.
“As chair of the National Space Council, I have made it a priority to enhance international cooperation in space. The announcement and partnership between the United States and United Arab Emirates advances this important work. By combining our resources, scientific capacity, and technical skill, the US and UAE will further our collective vision for space and ensure it presents extraordinary opportunities for everyone here on Earth,” the US Vice President said in a statement.
On Sunday, MBRSC announced that it will provide an airlock for the Lunar Gateway station that will be placed in the Moon’s orbit by the end of the decade. An airlock is a transitional capsule that allows crew to move from the Lunar Gateway’s pressurised crew modules to the vacuum of space. The lunar station will support NASA’s missions for long-term exploration of the Moon under the Artemis programme for the benefit of all, the US space agency said.
The Lunar Gateway, or station will support research in deep space and “provide a home for astronauts to live and work”, said NASA. It will also be used as a staging point for lunar surface missions. Astronauts can also conduct spacewalks while orbiting the Moon, and there are plans to send astronauts to Mars from the Gateway.
“The United States and the United Arab Emirates are marking a historic moment in our nations’ collaboration in space, and the future of human space exploration,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
“We are in a new era of exploration through Artemis – strengthened by the peaceful and international exploration of space. The UAE’s provision of the airlock to Gateway will allow astronauts to conduct groundbreaking science in deep space and prepare to one day send humanity to Mars,” Nelson said.
MBRSC will not only operate the airlock on the station, but will also provide engineering support for the life of the lunar space station.
Some may recall that the UAE, in 2020, was the first country to sign the Artemis Accord with the US. The accord set principles for 21st century space exploration programmes among countries and envisaged to send a person of colour and a woman astronaut to the Moon.
The UAE and the NASA have cooperated on several missions since 2019 when Hazza Al Mansouri became the first Emirati to fly to space during a short mission to the International Space Station. Sultan Al Neyadi then made history by conducting the longest spacewalk completed by an Arab astronaut last year.
The UAE’s pool of four astronauts includes two who are being trained at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Together, MBRSC and NASA have also worked on Mars research.