ABU DHABI // The UAE Space Agency is planning to honour the country’s martyrs by sending their names into space later this year.
The agency aims to send every martyr’s name and the date and the place of their deaths to the International Space Station, stitched into badges featuring a commemoration day logo.
Once returned to Earth, the badges will be presented to the families of the martyrs.
The initiative is an example of the country’s unity with its people, said Abdallah Al Bastaki, whose father was killed in a terrorist attack last month.
“My family and I are honoured and it’s a very noble idea,” said the eldest son of Mohammed Ali Zainal Al Bastaki, one of the five Emiratis killed while on a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan in January.
“Sending the names to space is a gesture of goodwill and solidarity with the people who lost loved ones.”
With the motto “Our martyrs are stars that light space and we will not forget their sacrifice”, the project is designed to recognise the sacrifice made by the country’s martyrs.
“With 2017 being the Year of Giving we wanted to give back to the relatives of those who gave their country the ultimate sacrifice,” said Sheikha Al Maskari, the agency’s chief innovation officer.
“It is important for us to recognise our martyrs and what they have done to protect our country.”
The agency’s gesture is one of the many ways the government and community have shown continuous support for the martyrs’ families, said Mr Al Bastaki.
“We still have people coming to our home every day, with 28 recently visiting us in one day,” he said.
“They are torn between mourning and congratulating us for our father’s death.”
Mr Al Bastaki said he had seen an outpouring of giving by the community since the death of his father, something he hoped would continue for years to come.
“The space agency’s plan shows how the UAE is a country of giving and we hope this perpetuates, here and around the world,” he said.
Ms Maskari said a secondary outcome of the project could be the raising of the public’s awareness of the country’s achievements and ambitions in space.
“We have seen a lot of interest in the flag that was brought back from the moon by the public. People were very excited by the fact it had been in space,” she said.
In 2015, the United States gifted the UAE Space Agency a US flag that was carried on board the Apollo 14 mission to the moon in 1971 as a token of support for the UAE’s fledging space programme.
talsubaihi@thenational.ae
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Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
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Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
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From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Rating: 4/5
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