Top IQ Emiratis urged to choose space as a career

Veteran American astronaut tells pupils to persevere, adding 'it took me until I was 39 to make it to space'

A group of 20 gifted Emiratis who are among the brightest pupils in the education system were urged to consider a career in space by an astronaut who has circled Earth more than 700 times.

The message from former Nasa astronaut Dr Donald Thomas was delivered to youngsters at the Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Giftedness and Creativity, which is attended by pupils in grade 4 and 12 with high IQs.

Dr Donald Thomas, a veteran of four space flights, said hope and patience was needed their future careers. He spoke a week after the search was launched for the first four UAE astronauts was launched.

“One of the most important message I want to pass on to them is to work hard, do your best and to follow your dream,” he said in Dubai on Sunday.

“I had this dream of going in space since I was six and I always worked hard, did my best and it took me until I was 39 to make it to space. So my message is keep focused, don’t give up on your dream whatever passion you have, keep working towards that.

“I’m going through what it’s like up in space in zero gravity, how do we eat and sleep,” Dr Thomas said.

“Some things are more difficult – the toilet is more complicated, there are switches and dials so it takes a few more minutes but other things are easy like lifting a desk can be done with one finger. It’s all worth it.”

He also spoke about Nasa’s future plans for space travel.

____________

Read more

“We’re building a new rocket called space launch system, it’s the biggest, most powerful rocket ever built and it’ll have the capability to go to the moon, asteroids and then onto Mars,” he said.

“It’s the type of rocket this generation will be riding on.

"We also have a number of commercial companies – Space X, Boeing – working on private spacecraft and some opportunities available for them.

"This group is the Mars generation, they will be the first ones to set foot on Mars and we’re likely to land there in 20 to 25 years from now so it’ll be someone in their age range on those missions.”

Dr Thomas has already been around the planet 700 times.

“It takes an hour and a half each time and to see the top of mount Everest, the Great Barrier Reef and Dubai from space with your own eyes is an amazing experience,” he said.

"I'm excited about the Mars orbiter the UAE is building for the 50th anniversary, it's an incredible achievement and I have no doubt that they can do it because I look at this great city and everything they've accomplished. There are also plans for a Mars base in 100 years."
He said the biggest challenge for students was distraction.

“They’re very smart, interested and inquisitive minds,” he said.

“It’s about instilling that self-confidence that it’ll be hard but if you do your best, you can accomplish anything.

"There are so many technlogy jobs associated with the space programme and students are  naturally driven to space because it’s a magical world where everything floats and an area of exploration and discovery."

Maitha Junaibi, a 13-year-old from the Applied Technology High School in Abu Dhabi, became interested after the talk.

“He spoke about how long it takes, months and years, so I’m thinking to study more at home instead of playing and be more serious,” she said.

“Being an astronaut is not like any other job because it’s not one subject – you have to study science, mathematics and physics. The most interesting thing is that you can fly with no gravity, it’s so cool and I really want to try it and uplift the UAE’s name.”

Aysha Dahmani, a pupil at the Sumaya bint Khayat school in Ajman, said she watched space-related shows from a young age.

“I want to be an astronaut one day and I hope to go to Mars and represent the UAE,” said Aysha, originally from Ras Al Khaimah.

"I want to be friends with people who want to be astronauts so this class is great. My parents are very supportive and I just hope I won't be expected to remove my abaya in space."
Mariam Omar, from the Dubai National School, said space was the future for humankind.

“It’s nice to explore new communities, societies and environments and it’s challenging for us,” she said.

“I’d like to be as astronaut, although dreams change, but it is an interest. It’s nice to explore outside the earth and the UAE is going to send the first probe to Mars so the country is helping us to express our talent.”

The selected students had to undergo an IQ and creativity test.

“We are building a special programme for them to make them interested at their level, whether robots, Mars and space or maths,” said Huda Al Hammadi, enrichment programme administrator at the centre.

“We’re hoping one of them will be an astronaut in the future. The government is interested in launching the first rocket to Mars in 2021 so building a new generation which has this background will maybe make them one day interested in pursuing studies in this field and maybe they’ll become an engineer or astronaut.”

Programmes run alongside school, during weekends and holidays. “They’ll plan a full journey as if they are going from earth to Mars,” she said.

“They will build a small rocket simulating Nasa and they’ll launch it on December 27 in the desert, to see where it reaches.”