A collaboration between Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and the Emirates Literature Foundation has been struck to allow UAE students to learn more about space. According to The National, live broadcast and pre-recorded videos of Emarati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi will be revealed every week during his stay in space, which is six months long. He will leave for his mission on 26 February.
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Dr Al Neyadi’s videos, where he will discuss his life in space, will be shared with students across the country, and the initiative is a part of a new education project. Director-general of the space centre, Salem Al Marri, told The National, “We’ll be releasing a video every week, some will be live streams, that will be shown in classrooms. It also links to reading books and that will be the core message.”
Between 1 to 6 February, the Emirates Literature Festival will take place, and is organised by The Emirates Literature Foundation. Various renowned writers from across the world will be present at the event to promote their work and help to build a reading culture in the country.
#UAE: Students to interact with astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi every week during his 6-month stay at #ISS https://t.co/6szSeQPLdM
— Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) February 1, 2023
As a result, students from various schools will be present and attend presentations and book signings. Previously, Hazza Al Mansouri and Dr Al Neyadi, who are UAE’s astronauts, were present to motivate students to read. “I think reading is very important. I think it’s the kind of the beginning step to pretty much everything that we do,” Mr Al Marri said.
He also revealed how the videos from Dr Al Neyedi will encourage students to be interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects. In the past, Nasa, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos have held educational projects with students, where they can speak to an astronaut at the space station through the live feed.
Maj Al Mansouri, who was in space for his eight day mission in 2019, also recorded videos of himself where he was seen praying, eating, exercising, and other daily routines.
#Dubai‘s Emirates Literature Festival 2023 goes to space#UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi to address UAE students from ISShttps://t.co/ITeLf71wIh
— Gulf News (@gulf_news) February 1, 2023
Chief Executive of the Emirates Literature Foundation, Isobel Abulhoul, revealed that this project will also lead to the release of a website titled ELF in Space. “It will have a mass of interesting facts, funny jokes about space [and] some of the historical facts about space. So it should become a really good education resource,” she said.
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Abulhoul also said that it will be in both Arabic and English, and will feature subtitles so that “language is not a barrier”. “We’re trying to interest students with space through books, but in a fun, entertaining way,” she added.
