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UAE to Send 4 Astronauts to the International Space Station Within Five Years

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president and prime minister and Dubai Ruler. Asharq Al-Awsat
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president and prime minister and Dubai Ruler. Asharq Al-Awsat
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UAE to Send 4 Astronauts to the International Space Station Within Five Years

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president and prime minister and Dubai Ruler. Asharq Al-Awsat
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president and prime minister and Dubai Ruler. Asharq Al-Awsat

The UAE revealed on Wednesday its plan to send four astronauts into space within five years through a specialized program that prepares and trains young men and women to be sent on various assignments to the International Space Station.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, the UAE’s vice president and prime minister and Dubai Ruler said the Emirates Astronauts is the first program of its kind in the Arab world to select and train four Emirati astronauts and send them on various missions to the International Space Station.

The program aims to invite young women and men to join the program under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Center of space.

Sheikh Mohammed said: "On this day, a new chapter in our history begins with the launch of the first UAE Astronaut Programme, dedicated to sending four Emirati Astronauts into space.

"The people of the UAE will break new barriers; nothing can stand in the way of those who believe nothing is impossible," he added.

"Our ambitious goals are fuelled by dedicated people, who support us until, without hesitation or scepticism, we succeed"

Sheikh Mohammed called on all young UAE men and women to register for the UAE astronaut program through the program's official website.

"I invite young Emiratis to register for the UAE Astronaut Programme through the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC)."

Sheikh Mohammed said that the most competitive applicants will be chosen to be ambassadors for the UAE in space exploration.

"The most competitive applicants will be selected to be ambassadors for the UAE in space exploration. However, every single Emirati will contribute in his or her own way to the future of the UAE, whether it’s on land, or in the skies," he tweeted.

The UAE is investing in science programmes to help serve national interests in the future, actively participating in global space exploration, and exploring the prospects of human life in space, including the possibility of inhabiting other planets.

Finalists will go through training in theory and science, as well as specialty qualification courses, over several months and in accordance with the highest international standards and requirements.

The top students will be screened before four Emirati astronauts will be selected to form the UAE’s Astronaut Team.

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Varieties

French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
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French Scientists Find New Blood Type in Guadeloupe Woman

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)
A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type. (AFP)

A French woman from the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe has been identified as the only known carrier of a new blood type, dubbed "Gwada negative," France's blood supply agency has announced.

The announcement was made 15 years after researchers received a blood sample from a patient who was undergoing routine tests ahead of surgery, the French Blood Establishment (EFS) said on Friday.

"The EFS has just discovered the 48th blood group system in the world!" the agency said in a statement on social network LinkedIn.

"This discovery was officially recognized in early June in Milan by the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT)."

The scientific association had until now recognized 47 blood group systems.

Thierry Peyrard, a medical biologist at the EFS involved in the discovery, told AFP that a "very unusual" antibody was first found in the patient in 2011.

However, resources at the time did not allow for further research, he added.

Scientists were finally able to unravel the mystery in 2019 thanks to "high-throughput DNA sequencing", which highlighted a genetic mutation, Peyrard said.

The patient, who was 54 at the time and lived in Paris, was undergoing routine tests before surgery when the unknown antibody was detected, Peyrard said.

This woman "is undoubtedly the only known case in the world," said the expert.

"She is the only person in the world who is compatible with herself," he said.

Peyrard said the woman inherited the blood type from her father and mother, who each had the mutated gene.

The name "Gwada negative", which refers to the patient's origins and "sounds good in all languages", has been popular with the experts, said Peyrard.

The ABO blood group system was first discovered in the early 1900s. Thanks to DNA sequencing, the discovery of new blood groups has accelerated in recent years.

Peyrard and colleagues are now hoping to find other people with the same blood group.

"Discovering new blood groups means offering patients with rare blood types a better level of care," the EFS said.