Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-06-29)

46

JOHN BECK

BloombergBusinessweek June 29, 2020

twoyears.Thedeadlinewasalreadyintimidatinglyclose.

A missionsocomplexwouldnormallytakeatleasta decade

todevelop.Plus,thelaunchwindowduringwhichEarthand

Marsaremostproximatecomesonlyonceeverytwoyears,

andthejourneyrequiredsevenmonths,leavingseveralweeks

beginninginmid-July 2020 astheonlypossiblewindow.

InDecember2017,withtheMarsmissionenteringitsmanu-

facturingphase,MaktoumannouncedonTwitterthattheUAE

wouldalsobeginanastronautprogram.Mansouristartedhis

applicationthatday.He’dgrownupa sci-fi-loving child in the

remote deserts south of Abu Dhabi, where he could gaze up

at a night sky clear enough to spot the occasional comet. In

fourth grade, he’d seen a picture of Prince Sultan in a textbook.

“It was amazing because he was Arabic,” Mansouri says. The

only other Arab to have left Earth was a Syrian, Muhammed

Faris, who flew on a Soviet mission in 1987.

As he got older, Mansouri dedicated his life to reaching

space. Many early astronauts had been pilots, so Mansouri

became one, too, attending military college and going to the

U.S. to learn to fly F-16s, then qualifying as an instructor and

an air show team member. The monochrome picture of Sheikh

Zayed and the Apollo crew hung in his squadron house.

The first cut for the UAE astronaut program brought the

prospect pool down to 95, from 4,000. After a few more

rounds, there were just nine—a mix of nuclear scientists, engi-

neers, pilots, and doctors. One night in August 2018, Mansouri

got a call from Salem Al Marri, the MBRSC’s deputy director

general, who, after a preamble so long Mansouri thought he

was being let down politely, gave him the good news. Sultan

Al Neyadi, a military engineer, would join him as a reserve.

Their training included a three-day survival exercise in the

Kazakh wilderness. “I saw them afterwards,” Marri says with

a laugh. “I mean, it was cold. They smelt like burnt firewood,

they’re all black everywhere from the smoke.”

Three days before launch, Mansouri spoke with Sultan on

the phone, thanking the prince for inspiring him. Mansouri’s

flight cargo included 30 Al Ghaf seeds for planting back on

Earth, jewelry and toys belonging to his family, and some

freeze-dried Emirati meals. Just about every second of his time

in space delighted him: the disruption to his perception of up

and down, the view out the window by his berth, the behavior

of water droplets in zero gravity. “Using the toilet is a different

story,” he says, giggling. From orbit he conducted 16 experi-

ments, gathering data on the effects of microgravity on genes,

cell growth, and seed germination. He also gave the first Arabic-

language tour of the ISS for later release online. On his last day

aboard, he slept only the mandatory four-hour minimum so

he’d miss as little as possible. He returned home a hero.

The Emirates’ focus is now on the Al Amal mission. The

probe—a 3,300-pound, 2.9-meter-tall cuboid aluminum struc-

ture with three folding solar panels attached—shipped to its

Japanese launch site in April, weeks earlier than planned

because of the pandemic. If the mission succeeds, the UAESA

will become just the fifth agency to reach Martian orbit. The

probe will send back images and other data that will be made

freelyavailabletoatleast 200 researchinstitutions around the

world. From there, according to the agency’s director general,

Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, plans include a spaceport, tour-

ism,anda Marscolonyby2117.

riticsoftheUAEspaceprogrampointoutthatits

technologicalachievementshavehelpedglossoverthe

country’sdismalhuman-rightsrecord.Emiratiwomen

stillrequirepermissionfroma maleguardiantomarry,for

example,andstoningandfloggingremainlegalpunish-

ments.InMarch,a U.K.HighCourtruledthatMaktoumhad

orchestratedthekidnappingandforciblereturnoftwoofhis

daughtersafterthey’dtriedtoescapehimandthathe’dcon-

ductedanintimidationcampaignagainsthisformerwife.(In

anappealtokeepthefindingsoutofthepublicdomain,the

sheikhsaidhehadn’tbeenabletoparticipateinthecourt’s

fact-findingprocess,andsothejudgment“inevitablyonly

tellsonesideofthestory.”)

Devin Kenney, who researches the Gulf regionfor

AmnestyInternational,describesaspectsoftheEmirates’

recentoutward-facinginitiativesasa “marketingstrategy

directedtotheworld.”Headds:“AnyspeechwithintheUAE

that’sdirectedtocriticalself-improvementinsteadofjustlav-

ishingpraiseonthisveryshiny,fancy,glitzy,rich,advanced

moneydrawingtechnologicalimagewillgetyouintrouble,

severetrouble—uptoandincludinghorrifictorture.”(Apress

officefortheUAEMinistryofForeignAffairsdidn’trespond

toemailedrequestsforcomment.)

SinceMarch2015,theUAEandSaudiArabiahavealso

beenpartofthecoalitionofArabstates,ledbyCrownPrince

MohammedbinSalman,Sultan’shalf-brotherandthedefacto

ruleroftheSaudistate,that’sinterveningina brutalcivilwar

inYemen.Theconflictis oneoftheworld’sworsthumani-

tariancrises,withmorethan100,000peoplekilledand

millions in need of aid. Coalition airstrikes have hit weddings,

hospitals, school buses, fishing boats, and mosques, caus-

ing more than 8,000 civilian deaths, according to the Armed

Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Detainees of the coa-

lition and allied Yemeni forces have been subjected to tor-

ture and sexual violence, according to the United Nations.

When Prince Mohammed, known as MBS, took over

C

Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud heads the Saudi space agency ▲