Aspiring UAE astronauts must be multilingual, multitaskers

Charles Frank Bolden, Jr. with the Advisory Committee for UAE Space Agency in Abu Dhabi.

Choosing the best four among the thousands who have applied to become the UAE's first astronauts, is the biggest challenge the programme is facing, according to a former US astronaut. Besides, they must also be capable of handling a huge volume of information and deal with a wider array of systems, including a variety of languages.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) revealed last week that 4,022 Emiratis had applied to become the UAE's first four astronauts, with 34 per cent of them being women. The application process for the UAE Astronaut Programme ran from December 6 last year to March 31 this year.
Major-General Charles Frank Bolden, a former Nasa administrator, said in an interview with Khaleej Times that the UAE is progressing well in their space programme and the latest plan to train Emirati astronauts is a major milestone.
"Training UAE nationals to become astronauts is a brilliant idea and good that many have shown interest. The biggest challenge now is choosing the best four out of these applicants," said Bolden on the sidelines of the Advisory Committee meeting for the UAE Space Agency in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
"A strong criteria and selection method need to be followed to get the best talent. As we do longer missions in space, it requires people with outdoor experience, people with experience in expeditions or people who have been on long term missions of exploration," he said.
Astronauts also need to learn a number of languages, he said.
"If you go to the International Space Station (ISS), you have to be able to speak to a number of people in various control centres around the world, so it requires knowledge of multiple languages.
"When you go there as a member of the six-person crew, you are the housekeeper, you are the experimenter, you are the janitor, you are everything and it's quite a challenge for some to take on that volume of information and it is some of the learning that they have to do before going to space," said Bolton. Dr Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, director-general of the UAE Space Agency, said: "The applicants, aged between 17 and 67 years, came from 38 different fields of work and 34 per cent of them are women.
"We are looking forward to training a skilled team of individuals to represent the UAE in carrying out experiments and do research on board the International Space Station. One of our astronauts will be in space by 2022," said Al Ahbabi.
A committee is screening all the applications and will shortlist suitable candidates for the next phase of the selection process. The top four candidates, who successfully complete all selection stages, will go for the full astronaut training starting in 2019.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi