Abu Dhabi, 21 Aug. 2011(WAM) The Mohammed bin Zayeds Majlis hosted at Al-Batin Palace last night a lecture titled "Space Voyages of Exploration and Discovery" by Dr. Charles Elachi. It was attended by H. H. Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mu'alla, Supreme Council member and ruler of Umm al-Qaiwain and His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

Dr. Charles Elachi, gave an overview of the state of knowledge of our universe and of the quest of space exploration being under taken by NASA. He is the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where 5,000 scientists and engineers are considered as the leading space explorers who developed most of the NASA planetary missions.

The lecture dealt with the following 5 points, namely, Arab explorers, scientists and astronomers, and their major contributions to our knowledge of our planet and the universe around us, A review of the latest generation of explorers, scientists, and exploration missions, and an outline of their boldest achievements, The worlds current state of knowledge of the universe and the impact this knowledge has had on mankind, Vision for the next fifty years of space exploration, and transforming this vision into reality and How the young generation of UAE and the Arab world can participate in the Quest of Space explorationDr Elachi said that we are in a golden age of space exploration. NASA spacecraft have visited all the planets of our solar system.

Today there are spacecraft across the solar system exploring our universe. Some examples are the two Voyagers spacecraft which were launched more than 25 years ago are now leaving our solar system and entering the interstellar medium. The Casini spacecraft is exploring the Saturnion the system. Two orbiters and a rover (Opportunity) are exploring Mars. The Messenger spacecraft is exploring Mercury. The Hubble, Spritzer and Chandra Telescopes are exploring the galaxies and stars in our universe. The Kepler Telescope is observing planets orbiting other stars, and numerous spacecraft are orbiting our planet to monitor the Earths resources and Environment.

In addition to ongoing missions, Dr Elachi described future planned mission to expand our knowledge of the world around us. He also said that one of the most exciting upcoming missions is a car size rover, called Curiosity, which will be launched in late November and will land in Mars on August 6 next year. It is designed to rove on Mars for at least two years to study the surface composition, and will take samples from rocks and analyze them in a number of chemical labs carried on board.

Dr Elachi further said that the advance in space exploration and our astronomical knowledge are built on advances over many pas centuries. The Arab and Islamic world has contributed tremendously to this field through the contribution of intellectuals such as the Khawarizmi, Al Battani, El Idrisi and Fazari who lived during the golden age of Middle East science and discovery.

Dr. Elachi also showed a video of how numerous spacecraft were landed on Mars which illustrated the challenges and excitement of such events. He also described the numerous contributions of space technology to our daily lives including cellphones, GPS, infrared cameras and robotic surgery.

Finally, he closed his lecture by discussing the importance for Abu Dhabi and the UAE to encourage and provide the opportunity to the young people to participate in the quest of exploration being conducted in the US and Europe. This will inspire the next generation of Arab scientists and engineers, and have them contribute to the expiation knowledge in the same way that our ancestors contributed during the Islamic golden age of science many centuries ago, and the tradition of Sheikh Zayeds support to education and search for knowledge.

"Looking forward over the next decade, as the young Emiratis expand their knowledge and capabilities in science and technology, we hope that the UAE will develop and launch its own satellites and join the other nations in space exploration and renew the major role that the Arab world played many centuries ago in expanding our knowledge of the universe around us," Dr Elachi said.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.