Mohamed at lecture on Mars Mission

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, attended at his Ramadan majlis on Monday the second weekly lecture on Nasa and human mission to Mars.

The lecture, delivered by Charles Bolden, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), was also attended by Dr. Amal Abdullah Al Qubaisi, Speaker of the Federal National Council; Sheikh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation; Lt. General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of presidential Affairs; Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court; Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan; Sheikh Sultan bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Member of the Executive Council, a number of Sheikhs, ministers and senior officials.

Bolden praised the efforts of various competent institutions in the country in the field of space exploration. He noted that during his visit to the Khalifa University and the Masdar Institute, he was surprised to see the efforts of these two institutions in the areas of educational curricula and comprehensive vision to transform the impossible into possible.

Mars trip

Bolden said the forthcoming trip to Mars will be in cooperation with friendly countries, particularly the UAE.

He pointed out that the cooperation agreement signed by Nasa with the UAE Space Agency aims to achieve some common tasks in space, aviation, exploration of Mars and space discoveries.

He stressed that the space cooperation with international partners would enhance scientific discoveries, technological innovation and benefit humanity.

Bolden added that the cooperation also supports the teaching of science and technology, engineering and mathematics, and will stimulate the economy as well as accomplish the message of Nasa.

Bolden spoke about Nasa’s efforts to go to Mars and its current efforts to send people to the planet. "Going to Mars is very difficult and takes a lot of planning," he said, adding that Nasa plans to send people to Mars and bring them back to earth. The plan is to send people to Mars by 2030s, he said.

Nasa plans

Bolden also discussed other feats that Nasa is planning to achieve. Some of the technologies Nasa is working on, he said, is to latch a space shuttle into an asteroid and then gear the asteroid so it revolves around the moon where astronauts can work, and possible develop some type of mining in space.

On the area of choosing astronauts, Bolden said the criteria have changed over time. Some of the changes include the ability to speak foreign languages and control robotic equipment.

He said Voyager, which was launched in the 1970s, has already left our solar system and has for a year been floating in the interstellar realm.

He also talked about Nasa's efforts in studying the impact of space travel on human health in order to help astronauts and space travelers have better journeys in the future, especially those going to Mars. These efforts also study closely the psychological impact of space travel and spending prolonged periods of time in space.

Bolden also delved into the technical details involved in sending spaceships to Mars, explaining the latest advancements in the area, including the use of solar energy instead of nuclear energy in space travel.

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