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The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, MBRSC, has launched the 'Science in Space' competition, where schools can participate in conducting scientific experiments to study the impact of microgravity.
The competition is under the umbrella of the UAE Astronaut Programme. The MBRSC will choose 15 schools based on their efforts to promote the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and their reasons for participating in the competition.
The winning schools will be able to nominate students to attend and participate in workshops organised by the space centre to conduct 15 scientific experiments, where students can learn how to prepare scientific experiments and its phases.
The same experiments will be part of the scientific mission of the first Emirati astronaut who will travel to the International Space Station, ISS, in September this year. The results from the ISS, launched and returned by NanoRacks, will then be compared with those done on Earth.
Commenting on the competition, Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, Director-General of the MBRSC, said, "The mission of the first Emirati astronaut to ISS will be a historic event for the UAE's space industry, and for the first time, students have the opportunity to learn about the experiments that will be part of the astronaut's mission and conduct them on-ground."
The experiments include the effect of microgravity on cell growth, microorganisms, genes, grass seed germination rates, fungi and algae, the effect of antibiotics on bacteria, basic chemical reactions in space, and other physical, biological and chemical experiments.
Entries to the competition close on 18th April 2019.
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