Dubai kids dream of living on red planet
Earth will have an end, that’s for sure. So, we need another place to live in and I can help make Mars a sustainable place.”
Rishit Chaturvedi, student
DUBAI — The UAE’s upcoming city on Mars may be a century away, but today’s young generation is already dreaming of making the red planet their home.
A total of 32 students are attending the Winter Space and Rocketry Academy Camp being held by Compass International at Abu Dhabi’s Virginia International Private School from December 16 to 18. Speaking to Khaleej
Times during the launch of the camp, several kids said they were attending so that they can learn how to make Mars a sustainable planet for humans, as “Earth will surely end one day”.
The camp will have an astrobiologist from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), Dr Rosalba Bonaccorsi, as a guest lecturer. Her work is around studying life in the universe, including potential lives on other planets.
An aspiring scientist currently in Grade 6, Srihari Shaiju, said he hopes to make Mars his home one day. “I want to learn how to make Mars a sustainable place for living and see how these scientists work to develop these space technologies. Surely, one day the Earth will be too polluted for people to live in, so they need another planet to live in. So, a lot of people are trying to make Mars a sustainable place to live and I think I can help.”
Rishit Chaturvedi, a Grade 6 student, said he will try his ‘best’ to reach Mars one day. “At this camp, I hope to learn how rockets are made and how we can make life exist on Mars. Everything that is built can’t last forever — which means Earth will have an end. So, we need another place to live in and I can help make Mars a sustainable place,” he said.
Another Grade 6 student, Simreen Siraj, said: “Living on Mars would be amazing. I want to explore what matters.”
A student in Grade 11, Shyam Desai, said he’s attending the camp to learn how IT can play a role in the space industry. His ultimate goal, however, is to live on the red planet as he believes “it’s the next step for mankind”.
“I want to get an insight on what space has to offer and its future opportunities and to see what I can offer in terms of IT. We are on Earth right now and we are trying to increase our knowledge. And if we go on another planet, we can explore different species, findings and technologies.”