HAMDAN BIN MOHAMMED HAMAD AL MANSOURI PROFESSOR MELIKECHI A NEW EARTH

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INSPIRE
Alone in space
This iconic image captures NASA Astronaut
Bruce McCandles as he makes the first ever
untethered space walk. Using just a jet pack
to navigate his way in space, McCandles
looks very isolated, and is displaying the kind
of bravery and courage associated with all
those who have helped push the human race
to new frontiers in outer space.
Celebrating Human Endeavour
India launches
the SLV-3
It was in July 1980 that India became
the sixth nation to become “spacefaring”.
This successful launch project
paved the way for the Indian Space
Research Organisation (ISRO) to
launch countless satellites throughout
the last 35 years, including the Mars
Orbiter Mission (MOM), which is
currently in orbit around the Red
Planet. With MOM, India became the
first country to succeed with a mission
to Mars at the first attempt. Despite
their numerous satellite launches,
ISRO has never launched a human
into space, although plans are being
made for a potential human mission
in 2017.
First woman in space
Valentina Tereshkova was the first female
to go to space. The Russian cosmonaut
made the journey in 1963, aged just 27. It
marked another huge victory for the former
Soviet Union in their on-going space contest
with America. The US didn’t send a woman
out of the atmosphere until 1983, and had
previously been beaten by a month in their
race with the Russians to send a man up to
space for the very first time. Perhaps more
significant than the intercontinental rivalry
provoked by the Cold War, was the hope that
Valentina gave to women, not just in Russia,
but everywhere. That a woman in the 1960’s
was able to make an impact on such a maledominated
sector, was quite remarkable at
that time.
The Eastern Seaboard by night
This image of the East Coast of America at night was captured by a crewmember aboard the
International Space Station in 2012. The photo perfectly illustrates the modern urbanisation
of the USA, with New York and Manhatten (bottom right), Philadelphia (left of New York), and
Pittsburgh (central) all clearly visible, along with the major highways that link them. Further
north is Washington DC and Maryland. Views like this allow Astronauts to feel like they are not
so very far from home, and that back on Earth everything is just as it should be.
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