00:00So my name is Michael Flashbart, and I'm here with Compass International, but I've got about
00:1328 years experience at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, which is the NASA Visitor Center
00:18in Huntsville, Alabama, where I live when I'm not in the UAE.
00:23So I'm over here doing some camps, empowering students as the next generation, the Mars
00:28generation of learners that are going to be heading to space one day.
00:32So as part of these camps, we're talking and showing the students about living and working
00:36in space.
00:38We're showing them samples, real space food samples.
00:40This is one of the astronaut drink bags the astronauts will use on board the International
00:45Space Station.
00:47We also give them a chance to taste some real space food as part of the camp that they're
00:52participating in.
00:53Will you be drinking water from the U.S. side?
01:20Definitely, actually, it's 100% drinkable, and we're doing it.
01:27And this is one of the things that humanity learned, how to recycle the water.
01:34And they are using this type of invention down here on Earth to help the places that
01:41have problems with water.
01:42They learn about, when they're up in space, how to use special no-rinse space shampoo
01:50as part of their training.
02:03Start by just putting some hot water, squirting it onto my scalp, and I take my no-rinse shampoo
02:08and squirt it also on the scalp in there and just kind of work it, because without standing
02:17under running water, you kind of need to use the towel.
02:20They'll also learn about the physical effects of being in space for long term, so they have
02:26to exercise about two hours every day that they're up there, and they have to exercise
02:30a little bit different way, because they can't lift weights in space, everything is weightless,
02:35so they have to use resistance training as part of that.
03:00So, I'm sharing stories about my time training students just like them.
03:14One of the students that went through our program in space camp in Huntsville, Alabama
03:19is astronaut Christina Koch.
03:21She's on the International Space Station right now, and she'll be working with the first
03:27Emirati astronaut that will be going to space later this year for that.
03:32So it's quite an exciting time going on in space, and the UAE Space Agency and the Mohammed
03:39bin Rashid Space Center here in Dubai are leading the efforts, really in the GCC, as
03:45they work with NASA, the Russian Space Agency, and others on the space frontier.
03:51So certainly inspiring the next generation, but students that are in school now, whether
03:58it's grade school or university level, are really the first generation that can truly
04:04aspire to going to Mars one day, and they're being called the Mars generation.
04:10And if you think about it, those students that are maybe 10, 15, 20 years old now, by
04:16the time really the world is ready in 10 or 15 years to go to Mars, they're going to be
04:23the perfect age.
04:25Most of the astronauts, when they travel to space, are in their mid-30s, so these students
04:30in about 15 years, that's their age that they're going to be as they get ready to head to the
04:35stars.
Comments