Space… Our new wealth

With deep admiration and pride, we have learned that Nora Al-Matrushi and Mohammed Al-Mulla were selected to join the Emirates Astronaut Program in its second term.

Together, they are a new inspiration for Arab youth and for new generations.

The numbers say: The selection process came out of the 4300 citizens who applied for the program, 33% of whom are female, which clearly indicates that we have this great wealth of youth who are passionate about making the impossible, and ready to fly away with our dreams and ambitions.

Another thing the numbers point to is the success of our education process and its strategy in making minds and talents. It would not have been possible for our country to enter into a new history that our young people are creating and that will open us to broad horizons of ambition and challenge. Without this advanced educational climate, the institutional structure of scientific research and innovation, and with political will behind it, the conditions of life will be known in the future. I believe that science is the basis of progress. Without it, ancient civilizations cannot resume their role.

As for being the first Arab Emirati female astronaut, this is a new line at the start of the new “Biography of 50”, written with determination by the daughter of the Emirates, to inspire all the women of the region and the world, after they assumed their rightful place in the Emirati system of creativity.

The second session of the Emirates Space Program, once again, indicates that we are moving forward in the field of space exploration and holding the reins of its science in the hands of ”Children of Zayed”, who are qualified to storm the future. They have the tools and the alphabet surrounding it, and are able to translate our approach to the future of humanity and confirm our positive contribution to creating a better tomorrow for man.

We said it before and we repeat it today : When the UAE affirmed that it wanted to “resume Arab civilization”, it did not issue a marketing slogan or a mere word for domestic consumption. It did so out of its own belief, the capabilities of its people and its ability to compete with adults in science, and a confident shift to a knowledge economy and the future.