To many young Emiratis who are about to choose what to study at secondary school, 2021 must seem like an impossibly distant event. But these are exactly the people intended to be inspired by the UAE Space Agency's "epic challenge" of commemorating the 50th anniversary of the country's founding by sending an unmanned probe to Mars.
Space travel has a cachet that few other activities can match, which explains why Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield received such a warm welcome in the UAE this week. It is also why the mission to Mars was chosen as a goal – to show that the UAE is not just capable of delivering new scientific contributions to humanity but also to inspire the country.
This inspirational factor is difficult to quantify using conventional cost-benefit analysis. An Emirati teenager who might not be enthused about pursuing a job in the UAE’s established aerospace industry, which has already sent a series of communication satellites into orbit and manufactures aircraft components, might now choose subjects that would give him or her the chance to be part of the Mars mission.
The UAE’s advantages also make the space programme a suitable goal. The Indian Space Research Organisation, which launched a spacecraft to Mars last year at a cost of up to 4.5 billion rupees (Dh275m), came in for criticism because hundreds of millions of Indians regularly go hungry. The UAE is fortunate to be in an entirely different situation, where there are no starving Emiratis but there is a compelling need to create highly-skilled and high-paying jobs in an economy that is diversifying away from extractive industries. Nor is the UAE starting from scratch, with a Dh20bn-plus aerospace industry already established in the country.
Looking back to the American space programme, which landed men on the moon 45 years ago this week, it is tempting to see the benefits to society through the narrow compass of inventions ranging from Tang to memory foam to improved imaging methods that are used in the early detection of cancer.
But equally one could argue that high-tech firms like Microsoft and Apple were the direct result of teenagers inspired to pursue science subjects because of Nasa’s astronauts. How can you put a price on inspiring an Emirati to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs?
