News

2019-12-01

Astronaut Al Worden Presents Scholarships to Emirati Students

Four Emirati students and two educators received the first “Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship” award during a ceremony in the USA Partnership Pavilion at the show. The award will entitle the winners to an all-expenses paid, week-long astronaut training at U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s renowned Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

By Sakha Pramod

At the function, which was held on the second day, Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot Col. Al Worden, USAF-Retd., after whom the scholarship is named, announced the winners with Tom Kallman, President and CEO of the Kallman Foundation, the not-for-profit arm of U.S. trade show organiser Kallman Worldwide, which administers the programme.

They were joined by H.E. Dr. Mohammed Nasser Al Ahbabi, Director General of the UAE Space Agency, John Rakolta, Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the UAE, and government, military and industry leaders to congratulate the winners. The awards announced in Dubai are the first of 40 scheduled to be presented at major air shows around the world over the next two years.

“Current events, including the 50th anniversary this week of the Apollo 12 moon landing and the successful flight last month of the UAE’s first astronaut in space, Hazzaa AlMansoori, provide a unique opportunity to reflect on the positive impact space programmes have had on society, and re-emphasise the need for continued support of public and private initiatives dedicated to aerospace exploration and commerce,” said Kallman.

“Nation-to-nation, in partnership with the UAE Space Agency, industry partners around the world and the leaders of Space Camp, the premiere astronaut training experience, we’re proud to present the first Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship to honour the past and launch the future of space exploration in the UAE.

“As a lifelong advocate for STEM education and exploration, I am deeply honoured and excited to congratulate the first recipients of this scholarship,” said Worden. “When you consider the decades of rigour and discipline it’s going to take to successfully put people from Earth on Mars, and that the UAE has plans for establishing a colony on Mars by 2117, we need to pick up the pace. The pipeline for STEM talent can handle a lot more volume!”

As one of only 24 people who have flown from the Earth to the Moon and back, Worden is a role model for career engineers. In the decades following his historic 1971 flight, he has applied his business acumen, technical talents and passion for innovation to a wide range of interests in industry, academia and public service.

Since 1982, Space Camp has inspired the next generation of astronauts, engineers and scientists through an immersive programme that includes astronaut training and simulated space missions. Space Camp alumni include NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts as well as engineers, scientists and technologists in myriad disciplines around the world.

Comments () Views (8064 ) Print

Send To Friend