A SpaceX rocket blasted off on Tuesday carrying a UAE-Bahraini miniature satellite to the International Space Station.
CRS-24 lifted off at 2.07pm UAE time from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre.
The Dragon spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9 rocket at 2.22pm and will reach the space station at 1.30pm on Wednesday.
It is delivering more than 2,900 kilograms of supplies, experiments and holiday treats to the astronauts.
The UAE-Bahraini CubeSat, called Light-1, will monitor and study terrestrial gamma-ray flashes from thunderstorms and cumulus clouds – fluffy clouds with flat bases.
It will spend a few weeks on the ISS, before being deployed into orbit in January to begin operations.
Students at New York University Abu Dhabi and Khalifa University built the nanosat. The team included nine Bahrainis and 14 Emiratis.
The nanosat is a joint project by the UAE Space Agency and Bahrain’s National Space Science Agency.
Light-1 has been named after King Hamad’s first book called The First Light, which recounts Bahrain’s history. It is a 3-unit CubeSat, the most advanced of its kind.
The two kinds of crystals – cerium bromide and lanthanum bromo chlorine – would emit light whenever a charged particle would cross them.
Prof Arneodo said that the lifespan of the mission could last up to six months.
Prof Arneodo hopes to combine the data with other ongoing missions that are studying the bursts, including from the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor mission that was launched in 2018 and is still active.
for Advanced Sciences and chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, congratulated the teams that worked on the nanosat.
“I would also like to thank Khalifa University and the NYU Abu Dhabi for providing their world-class facilities to train team who worked on this landmark scientific endeavour.
“Capacity-building is a vital part of our efforts to stimulate our knowledge-driven economy and both universities have played a key role in empowering the next generation of talent.”
Francesco Arneodo, a physics professor at the New York University Abu Dhabi Centre for Astro, Particle and Planetary Physics, said that the mission would help create an improved model of how these gamma-ray bursts are generated.
The two kinds of crystals – cerium bromide and lanthanum bromo chlorine – would emit light whenever a charged particle would cross them.
Prof Arneodo said that the lifespan of the mission could last up to six months.
Prof Arneodo hopes to combine the data with other ongoing missions that are studying the bursts, including from the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor mission that was launched in 2018 and is still active.
