Who is Sarah Al Amiri? The 33-year-old scientist who led UAE’s Hope orbiter mission
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Chennai: Along with India and EU, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recently became successful in inserting a spacecraft into orbit around Mars on the first try. The mission was announced in 2014 and the Hope probe succeeded in entering the planet’s orbit on 9 February.
Leading the science mission as deputy project manager is Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, a computer engineer and also the country’s first Minister of State for Advanced Sciences.
Al Amiri, 33, is also the chairperson of UAE’s space agency Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, which developed the Hope orbiter (or Al Amal), in conjunction with University of Colorado Boulder, University of California-Berkeley and Arizona State University.
The Iranian-born Al Amiri is one of the youngest ministers worldwide and is also the youngest to lead a space agency.
She subsequently obtained an M.Sc. in computer engineering in 2014 from the same university, while also simultaneously working as the Head of Space Science at Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center, where she set up the research and development unit and functioned as its director.
As a part of the organisation, she worked towards the country’s goal of developing a “knowledge-based economy”. The goal includes plans to build a human settlement on Mars by 2117. To facilitate training and research, the country plans to build a ‘science city’ in the deserts of Dubai to simulate Martian conditions.
In 2014, Al Amiri became the programme manager for advanced aerial systems in the country’s space centre. She was responsible for putting together the engineering team for the space agency.
She was then appointed the head of the Emirates Science Council in 2016.
Ministry and guest appearances
On 19 October 2017, Al Amiri became the country’s first Minister of State for Advanced Sciences, a position she continues to hold. In August 2020, she became the Chairperson of the UAE Space Agency.
She was invited by the World Economic Forum to speak at Davos 2019, and also became the first citizen of UAE to speak at an international TED event.
Al Amiri was also covered by BBC’s 100 Women, a documentary series that examines the role and lives of women in the 21st century globally.
In her country, Al Amiri goes by the title “Her Excellency” due to her ministerial position.
Courtesy: theprint.in
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Hezbollah fires over 180 rockets, other projectiles into Israel, wounding at least 7
Beirut, Nov 24: Hezbollah fired at least 185 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in the group's heaviest barrage in several days, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with cease-fire efforts to halt the all-out war.
Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a Lebanese army centre killed one soldier and wounded 18 others on the southwestern coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said. Israel's military expressed regret and said the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah, adding that its operations are directed solely against the Hezbollah group. The strike was under review.
Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.
Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.
