Secured tightly into his seat, bright orange lights flashing, thick smoke visible from the window and then an enormous, sudden pressure against his body — this was the experience of UAE space tourist Hamish Harding as a Blue Origin rocket lifted off the ground, carrying him to the edge of space.
The long-time UAE resident described his flight during a virtual press conference held only an hour after the suborbital flight landed back in rural West Texas on June 4.
The 50-year-old was one of six passengers who took off on a New Shepard rocket to the final frontier.
They flew 106 kilometres above the ground and experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and witnessed Earth from above, set against the darkness of space.
Mr Harding said the 10-minute experience, from launch to landing, went by “too quick” and wished it had lasted longer.
‘Climb to space was spectacular’
“As soon as the rocket motor lights, there's a tremendous orange flash and smoke coming out — that is the spectacular bit as it launches off,” he said.
“The acceleration builds up and we reached a 3 G-force acceleration [force three times their weight as the rocket lifted off] at about Mach 3 going through, about 100,000 feet, and that’s only about two minutes into the flight.
“It was spectacular. Very quickly the booster’s main engine cut off, followed by separation, where the capsule then was free.
“At that point, we were able to get out of our harnesses because there’s no longer a risk of an escape manoeuvre, which requires the harness. So, at that point, we were able to float around the whole capsule.”
He said they took a group photo and then quickly rushed to the windows to enjoy the stunning views of the home planet.
Seeing Earth from above
The flight offers about four minutes of weightlessness before the capsule begins its descent back to Earth.
Mr Harding said he experienced the Overview Effect, often described by astronauts as a powerful shift in how a person views the planet and life.
“The Earth was what I was waiting to see and it was as spectacular as I'd been told,” he said.
“Looking down on the Earth, we should all work a lot better together.
“There is so much wasted effort on this planet by not working together. The world can move forward so much faster and more productively if we all did.”
‘A hard landing, but not painful’
After flying free in the cabin, the passengers were required to buckle up again for the ride back down.
They experienced 5 G-force during deceleration, but Mr Harding said the seat design in the capsule made it more comfortable.
“As we re-entered the atmosphere, it was quite significant,” he said.
“I've done 5G before in an aerobatic aircraft sitting up and that is quite intense.
“You can only do it for a short period of time without a G suit. But, 5G over a reasonable period of seconds was not really much of a concern because the seats are so well designed.
“Then eventually a loud bang and out come the parachutes. It was amazing … a hard landing, in no way painful at all … you knew you'd hit the Earth.”
Mr Harding has lived in the UAE for more than a decade and is the chairman of Action Aviation, which provides aircraft brokerage services to business jet and helicopter owners.
Last year, he dived into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, the deepest point on Earth. In 2019, he flew around the world on a record-breaking flight with Nasa astronaut Terry Virts.
Other passengers on the flight were investor and NS-19 crew member Evan Dick; electrical engineer and former Nasa test engineer Katya Echazarreta, also the first Mexican-born woman to fly into space; civil production engineer Victor Correa Hespanha; deep-sea diver Victor Vescovo and adventurer Jaison Robinson.
Blue Origin, a space tourism company founded by Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, has now taken 26 people to the edge of space on its New Shepard flights.
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE results
Lost to Oman by eight runs
Beat Namibia by three wickets
Lost to Oman by 12 runs
Beat Namibia by 43 runs
UAE fixtures
Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
Tuesday March 15, v PNG at Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Saturday March 19, v PNG at Dubai International Stadium
Monday March 21, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.