The UAE is looking for smart space shuttle experiments and research ideas in a no-gravity environment.
Research institutes in the UAE have been invited to submit proposals in science and tech-based projects that can be carried out in space.
Astronauts on board the International Space Station carry out thousands of science experiments in space that help us understand life on Earth.
And, this time the UAE wants to take new homegrown ideas into space when it sends its next astronaut to orbit our planet.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre is looking for research ideas in the fields of human health or Earth and space science.
These will be conducted by astronauts on board the ISS.
The last date for submitting applications is April 9.
“This is an amazing opportunity for the scientific community to contribute to space research while gaining invaluable skills that will serve them well through the years,” said Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, the centre’s director general.
Earth and space science projects on the ISS will focus on testing technologies and materials that will assist in exploration missions.
Human health research projects will help in improving the wellbeing of astronauts in space.
Maj Hazza Al Mansouri, the UAE’s first astronaut, carried out 16 experiments during an eight-day stay on the ISS last year.
Many of the projects that Mr Al Mansouri was a part of focused on human health, including the effects of microgravity on the body.
He carried out physical, biological and chemical experiments.
One of them was related to osteology, which studied bone condition and body composition.
He also measured the effects on the endocrine system in space flight and weighed his body mass as part of the test.
Other experiments were brain diffusion tensor imaging, which measures the impact on the brain before and after the space flight, sensory adaptation, cardiovector, countermeasures and fluidics.
MBRSC will share the results of these experiments when they are ready.
Candidates can contact science@mbrsc.ae for the application process.
