UAE to launch unmanned mission to the moon by 2024

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Emirati officials brief Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum about a possible moon mission, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, September 29, 2020.

Gulf state boosts space program, could become fourth nation in the world to land on the moon.

The United Arab Emirates plans to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2024, a top Emirati official said Tuesday, the latest gamble in the stars by the oil-rich nation that could see it become only the fourth nation on Earth to accomplish that goal.

The announcement by Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who also serves as the vice president and prime minister of the hereditarily ruled UAE, shows the rapid expansion of the space program that bears his name. Already, an Emirati space probe is hurtling through space on its way to Mars while last year it sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station.

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Hope Probe: UAE spacecraft blasts off in first ever mission to Mars

Mission had been delayed twice due to bad weather

The United Arab Emirates has launched its first mission to Mars, the first of three missions to the Red Planet to take place this month.

The Hope Probe launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center for seven-month voyage, facing off bad weather which caused the mission to be delayed twice.

The mission originally intended to leave Earth on 14 July.

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An inside look at the world’s first nation with a minister for artificial intelligence

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From robots that can flawlessly perform backflips to electric cars that can go over 950 km (600 miles) on a single charge, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the future is far closer than we may have previously thought. If the missteps of the industrial revolution are any indicator, we need to start planning for that future today.

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Living On Mars: First City on Red Planet Planned by United Arab Emirates in ‘Mars 2117’ Project

The world has set its sights on Mars — not just to visit, but to stay. Private organizations and governments have made it their mission to get to the Red Planet, and the United Arab Emirates wants to be first. The UAE said it planned to build the first city on Mars in 100 years. (Pics)

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Delivery drones that can scan your eyes coming soon to the UAE

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The UAE is looking to use drones to deliver government documents.

Drone delivery could soon become a reality in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE government announced it is developing a plan to use drones to deliver “official documents and packages,” stuff like government IDs and drivers licenses.

 

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Over a Million Blackberry Users in the UAE and Saudi Arabia Face Being Cut Off Due to ‘Security Concerns’

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The UAE said it would suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and web browser services from October 11.

The United Arab Emirates is to block sending emails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.

 

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Dubai Making Plans to Sell the Queen Elizabeth 2

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The Queen Elizabeth 2 was supposed to become a floating hotel in Dubai.

Dubai is reportedly preparing to sell a host of assets, including one of the world’s best known cruise ships, as the emirate’s investment arm looks to restructure a mountain of debt.
The Queen Elizabeth II, or QE2, is rumored to be one of the assets that Dubai’s state-run private equity firm, Istithmar World, is planning to sell. An Istithmar spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
However, a company spokesman told Arabian Business that “there are a number of options being considered for QE2. IW is considering which option will best maximise value of the vessel.”
Istithmar bought the QE2, once the largest passenger ship in existence, in 2007 for an estimated $100 million. The firm had planned to turn the ship into a floating hotel attached to a man-made, palm-shaped island in the Persian Gulf.
Also in the firm’s portfolio is a 20% stake in Canadian circus group Cirque du Soleil. But a Cirque du Soleil spokeswoman said the group has had no indication from Istithmar that a sale is pending.
Any proceeds from the asset sales would probably be used to pay down the $22 billion in debts that Dubai World, the parent company of Istithmar, took on during a multiyear, global property binge.
Dubai was one of the first sovereign nations to run into serious debt problems as a result of the global economic downturn. The fallout has now spread to Europe, where Greece and other countries are struggling to slash budget deficits and repay mountains of debt.
Dubai World, the investment arm of Dubai, rattled financial markets late last year when it signaled that it couldn’t make payments on its debts. The company received a $10 billion bailout in November from fellow emirate Abu Dhabi and is working with creditors to restructure its debt load.
As a result, Istithmar has already been forced to sell some assets at a loss. In December, the firm sold the W Hotel in New York for only $2 million in a foreclosure auction. It reportedly paid more than $200 million for the boutique hotel in 2006.
Last week, Istithmar sold its stake in Indian budget airline SpiceJet for $37 million. It also recently announced plans to sell port and shipping agent Inchcape Shipping Services for $700 million.
Despite the recent asset sales, Istithmar still has a large portfolio of investments and properties, including a large stake in book publishing giants Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt Education. It also has interests in U.K.-based Pension Insurance Corporation Holdings and Perella Weinberg Partners, a New York-based investment firm.

Dubai is reportedly preparing to sell a host of assets, including one of the world’s best known cruise ships, as the emirate’s investment arm looks to restructure a mountain of debt.

The Queen Elizabeth II, or QE2, is rumored to be one of the assets that Dubai’s state-run private equity firm, Istithmar World, is planning to sell. An Istithmar spokesman did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

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Foreign Workers and the Dubai Building Boom

Foreign Workers and the Dubai Building Boom

Behind every great building boom lies an army of unsung heroes doing the toughest jobs

Migrant workers on a building construction site in Dubai. No country is as dependent on migrants as the United Arab Emirates, where foreigners make up about 85 percent of the population and 99 percent of the private work force. (Pics)

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Controlling the Weather

NCAR’s Roelof Bruintjes (left) with Abdulla Al Mangoosh, director of UAE’s Department of Water Resources Studies.

NCAR’s Roelof Bruintjes (left) with Abdulla Al Mangoosh, director of UAE’s Department of Water Resources Studies.

Roelof Bruintjes dismisses the old saw that everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it.

The Boulder scientist has made it rain in Australia, Turkey, the Middle East, Africa and Wyoming.

Even the Chinese asked Bruintjes — one of the world’s leading experts on weather modification — whether he could advise them on how to make it not rain for the Beijing Olympics.

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