DUBAI // Budding scientists were given an insight into life in space on a visit by former astronaut Dr Donald Thomas.
The American, who has blasted into orbit four times, inspired the youngsters at Crescent English High School by explaining how he never gave up on his dream of being one of the Nasa elite.
Dr Thomas was finally accepted for the astronaut programme on his fourth attempt, aged 39.
“What’s the lesson here?” he asked the high school pupils, some of whom had been through the space agency’s student programme at its US Space and Rocket Centre in Alabama.
“Never, never, never give up.”
Dr Thomas said his desire to leave Earth first took hold at the age of 5, when he watched Nasa’s first space mission on a black and white television.
“If you’ve got a dream, a passion to do something, never give up on that. It’ll take hard work and time to get there but you can accomplish anything you want to.”
He impressed pupils with his stories of orbiting the Earth 692 times, eating freeze-dried food, sleeping tied to his bed on the space shuttle, and watching the world fall away at the window of a rocket in the eight and a half minutes it takes to reach space.
At that speed, “it would take about 10 to 12 minutes to reach Abu Dhabi”, said Dr Thomas. “Every one and a half hours you get round the Earth.”
Indian Anas Mahabook, 14, one of several pupils who had visited the US Space and Rocket Centre, said Dr Thomas’ visit “was very inspiring”.
“You feel you should never lose hope or give up. You must always try and be sincere in your work,” Anas said.
Devika Muralee, 14, also went to the US. “It’s my ambition to become an astrophysicist,” she said.
“Like travelling to the US, this has just helped to confirm that and helped me develop my career. I felt closer to my dreams.
“I was inspired by his message to never give up. It was a very strong message for me. I want to be one of these women who goes to space.”
Iranian Seyd Hussein, 14, said it was his dream to follow in Dr Thomas’ footsteps and go into space.
“I love science. It’s my dream to go to space and be like Dr Thomas, going on missions.”
He said the message that you should “always try hard, and if you fail, keep trying” had made a lasting impression on him.
The school visit was the first of up to 15 Dr Thomas has planned during his time in the UAE this month, organised by the US Space and Rocket Centre and Compass International Tours.
He said it was a timely visit, as only last year the UAE set up its first space agency and was planning an unmanned mission to Mars in 2021.
“The UAE will need many scientists, engineers and technicians, and I see many of those here today,” said the former astronaut, who racked up 1,040 hours in space over four missions.
Part of his reason for coming to the Emirates was to encourage students to pursue maths and science-related subjects.
“We want to get our kids inspired for future missions,” he said. “These are the future scientists. Often, science isn’t seen as a cool subject, but it is cool and we want to make it cool.
“Space is exciting and you see that in the kids’ eyes anywhere in the world, whether it’s the US or the UAE.”
Divya Ravikumar, 15, said Dr Thomas’ visit had reinforced his ambition to pursue a career beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
“It’s so exciting to have Dr Thomas here, hearing about the preparations they went through before going to space, seeing the pictures from his mission,” Divya said.
“My passion was to become a doctor but now I want to become an astrophysicist. I love science and this has helped me.”
mswan@thenational.ae
