Pupils at an Abu Dhabi school learnt about the challenges of travelling through space in a video call with a Nasa astronaut.
Close to 200 children aged from 4 to 18 at Brighton College Abu Dhabi were given the lowdown on a life reaching for the stars by Michael Fincke, who once held the record for the most time spent in space by an American – a staggering 381 days.
The unique departure from the school timetable was particularly timely as the Hope probe's mission to Mars reaches its crucial final stages over the next week.
Enthused pupils prepared 100 questions for their special caller, but had enough time to ask only 25.
Christopher Greenfield, a physics teacher at the college organised the event to pique pupils' interest in space exploration.
"The UAE Space Agency is very active, particularly looking at the Mars mission," Mr Greenfield said.
"I have a strong interest in the current Mars mission and when pupils return to class, we will be following the developments.
"The space agency is at our doorstep and I want to get pupils involved."
The Hope probe is reaching the most complex part of its mission, which is the entry into orbit around Mars on February 9.
Mr Greenfield previously worked as a head teacher at Nasa's international space school where he interacted with many astronauts.
He wanted pupils to engage with astronauts so they could get a first-hand account of what it was like to be in space.
"I want my pupils to become astronauts and space explorers in the future," he said.
Pupils asked the astronaut about the most challenging thing about going to space, to which he answered it was missing his family.
They asked Mr Fincke about how birthdays are celebrated and what his favourite food in space was.
When asked about one thing he would like to take to the International Space Station, he said although it would not be possible he would love to take his family.
Mr Greenfield, who has a degree in astrophysics, said his class is following the UAE's Hope Probe closely.
Marta Galan Cano, 12, a Year 8t pupil, is just one youngster captivated by the Arab world's maiden journey to the Red Planet.
"I am very excited about the UAE Mars mission," she said.
"In our class, we had discussions on the work it would take to get to Mars."
Marta said she was excited about speaking to an astronaut who had been to space three times.
"We learnt a lot of things, like the fact that astronauts train in swimming pools," she said.
"He answered my question about how long one takes to recover after coming back from space."
Mr Fincke's answer was that it varied from four to six weeks depending on body type and height.
Tess Van De Veire, 12, a Year 7 pupil, said she asked Mr Fincke about how he coped with being away from his family.
"He said that in space, you are not allowed to text but you can have video conferences and calls quite often," she said.
"He said it was pretty much about looking forward to the calls and savouring these."
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Mobile phone packages comparison
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Who is Tim-Berners Lee?
Sir Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in a household of mathematicians and computer scientists. Both his mother, Mary Lee, and father, Conway, were early computer scientists who worked on the Ferranti 1 - the world's first commercially-available, general purpose digital computer. Sir Tim studied Physics at the University of Oxford and held a series of roles developing code and building software before moving to Switzerland to work for Cern, the European Particle Physics laboratory. He developed the worldwide web code as a side project in 1989 as a global information-sharing system. After releasing the first web code in 1991, Cern made it open and free for all to use. Sir Tim now campaigns for initiatives to make sure the web remains open and accessible to all.
The biog
Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents
Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University
As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families
Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
