Oman to build space research centre for simulation missions and experiments

The Space Settlement Centre will have a futuristic look with linked 'space pods'

Oman has announced plans to build a Space Settlement Centre for research and simulation missions. Here is a rendering of the structure. Photo: Oman News Agency

Oman has announced plans to build a space research centre for simulation missions and science experiments.

A rendering of a futuristic type of habitat, called Space Settlement Centre, was revealed on Tuesday along with the announcement.

It will be built in the Artificial Intelligence Zone in the Duqm district, over an area of 20,000 square metres.

A land lease agreement was signed between the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones and Global Space and Technology Company.

Bahiya Al Shuaibi, founder of Oman’s Global Space and Technology Company, said the centre would help scientists to carry out research projects.

"The project aims to simulate a space environment to study the behaviour of astronauts before joining the actual astronaut flights,” she said.

“It will serve scientists, researchers and those interested in doing experiments in the space sector, artificial intelligence and advanced technology.”

The project will also help to establish training programmes with international institutions.

The timeline and cost of the project was not revealed.

The UAE announced plans to build a similar structure, called the Mars Science City, in 2017.

However, progress on the Dh500 million project slowed as the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre was trying to secure land.

Mars Science City would have pressurised biodomes in which ecosystems could be sustained. Dubai Media Office

The city will be located at the Dubai Academic City and is scheduled for completion in 2024. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

Construction of the project is expected to begin next year. Courtesy: Dubai Media Office

Adnan Al Rais is the Mars 2117 programme manager at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre. Mbrsc

The first image of Mars taken by the UAE's Hope probe, which arrived to the planet on February 9. EPA

Adnan Al Rais, project manager of Mars 2117 at the space centre, told The National last year that the land at the Dubai Academic City had finally been secured, and that construction would begin at the end of 2022.

Space habitats help researchers to carry out simulation missions, where volunteers live in isolation for days, weeks or months to perform a mock space mission ― also known as analogue missions.

This helps to measure the effects on their psychological and physiological health during isolation, research that could help astronauts who will one day go on long-duration space missions.

Saleh Al Ameri, an Emirati mechanical engineer, was the first Arab astronaut to complete an analogue mission.

He spent eight months in a Russian facility with an international crew of five.

With the UAE and Oman building space research centres with analogue facilities, it could help boost the space sector in the Middle East significantly, helping bring researchers from all over the world.

Currently, only a few space agencies, such as Nasa and Russia's Roscosmos have analogue facilities, while private players have carried out analogue experiments in places such as Greenland and Israel.

UAE analogue astronaut Saleh Al Ameri - in pictures

Saleh Al Ameri lived inside a remote Russian plant, in near-isolation, as part of an eight-month spaceflight research project. Locked away on November 4, he conducted several experiments. All photos: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre

Mr Al Ameri is part of the Sirius 20/21 project that measures the psychological and physiological effect on humans living in the extreme environments that astronauts face during space travel.

The international crew of six entered the NEK experimental complex in Moscow on November 4, where scientists are observing their behaviour using cameras installed throughout the centre.

Mr Al Ameri inside the centre in Moscow.

Mr Al Ameri's room in the complex. Each participant has a similar small space for privacy, while a small living room allows them to socialise and watch television. Each bedroom has a bed, desk and cupboard.

Aballa Al Hammadi, the back-up Emirati for the project, checks in on his colleague Mr Al Ameri, who is inside the complex.

Mr Al Ameri, 31, is the first Arab to be part of an analogue mission – field tests that simulate lengthy space journeys. These are crucial to understanding how space flight affects the body and mind, as governments and private companies work towards landing people on the Moon and Mars.

He celebrated the UAE's Golden Jubilee on December 2 inside the centre.

His colleagues celebrated the UAE's Golden Jubilee with him.

Crew members simulated a space journey to the Moon as part one of the experiments. They docked their 'spacecraft' with an interplanetary station and then transferred to a transport ship that will take them to the Moon.