Zero-gravity training for Emirati students

A team of Emirati students and engineers will conduct a reduced-gravity parabolic flight experiment over Japan later this month. The training is part of the UAE Space Agency's capacity building programme launched last year in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The team arrived in Japan earlier this week for a series of lectures, experiments and hands-on training sessions from leading experts at renowned Japanese institutions. In addition to parabolic flight experiments, the young Emirati space pioneers will also get theoretical training and prac-tical experience in launching rockets, hybrid propellants and polymeric materials.

The two-week training programme is the UAE Space Agency's latest capacity building initiative, and aims to increase national space science capabilities. The students and young engineers include winners of the Ideathon, held on November 12 last year with participants from JAXA.

The Ideathon competition, in which university student teams presented proposals for innovative space projects, was won by a team from UAE University.
How the training programme rolls

> Chiba Institute of Technology - Here, the Emirati team will spend a week and get trained in rocket theory and safety procedures, before launching model rockets. The students and engineers will then study polymeric materials, which will include hands-on training and combustion experiments

> Wakayama in Western Japan - Here, the team will launch hybrid rockets. Hybrid rockets use two different types of propellants - one solid, the other gas or liquid - and have common applications in space exploration and suborbital flight

> Nagoya Airport - The parabolic flight experiment will take place here. Parabolic flight allows people aboard an aircraft to experience weightlessness for roughly 30 seconds at a time by rapidly ascending and descending at steep angles. The process is used for training astronauts and conducting research experiments in a low- or zero-gravity environment.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi