Euphoria has not died down yet on first Emirati on space, and yet His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, could not help but share his new vision — sending Hazza Ali AlMansoori to planet Mars.
“We promise you that you will go to Mars. Our second goal is to reach Mars… Impossible does not exist if we have the strong will of mankind,” H.H. Sheikh Mohamed told AlMansoori.
The Vice President spoke with AlMansoori at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre during a live call aboard the International Space Station.
The 35-year old ex-F16 pilot made history last September 25, becoming the first Emirati in space. He joined NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and Oleg Skripochka of the Russian space agency Roscosmos on board a Soyuz-M15 spacecraft. AlMansoori will return to Earth on October 3 aboard a Soyuz-MS 12.
H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid’s declaration came a day before billionaire Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Spacex, revealed the latest design of his ships — capable of launching to space, returning to Earth, and flying again.
SpaceX is an ambitious plan of South African-born tech mogul to land the first people on Mars by 2024.
Musk and SpaceX posted on social media teasers of the latest designs of Starship, which has the capacity to take 100 people to Mars.
Three Raptors on a Starship pic.twitter.com/UrRiD62EVk
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 26, 2019
It is not known whether the UAE will join SpaceX or other Mars expedition missions. But for H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, sending the first Emirati in space used to be just a dream of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan, UAE founding father, decades ago.
Now it is a reality, and there is no stopping the UAE from dreaming more and bigger than space.
“We are amongst the stars and you are the first and we always remember the first. But we will have caravans of Emirati astronauts who will go to face and will pass through the same process that you have passed through,” the Vice President said.
AlMansoori, who will be in space for eight days, couldn’t help but feel ecstatic and awed by his first impression of Earth and the UAE from above.
“When I saw the UAE it was the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life. When we reached the outer space of the atmosphere, it was an indescribable feeling. The best feeling was when I saw Earth from Space. Unbelievable landscape,” he shared.
