KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN NSSA

INNER SANCTUM SPECIAL EDITION

DR. MOHAMED E. AL-ASEERI CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER National Space Science Agency

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Kingdom of Bahrain

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“It’s the responsibility of a Technology Publication to share new ideas and challenge the status quo.

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And when a Publication fails to include different experiences, beliefs, and ideas, they miss out on a true perspective of Our Global Environment.”

Linda Restrepo Editor/Publisher

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WHY ARE WE !

GOING BACK TO THE MOON? 5 !

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DR. MOHAMED E. AL-ASEERI CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER National Space Science Agency Kingdom of Bahrain

Since its inception in 2014, the National Space Science Agency (NSSA) has endeavoured to fulfill the provisions of the Royal Decree establishing it.

To this end, it is guided by the Royal Vision to create its mission and to set its objectives.

The NSSA is determined to patiently and confidently overcome challenges and move forward through optimistic phases, regardless of the immense and significant mission. The NSSA has assumed responsibility for achieving its objectives and for realizing great hopes and major dreams.

The ultimate purpose is to place the Kingdom of Bahrain among countries playing an active role in space activities who are foremost in utilizing space diversified applications to enhance comprehensive development and ensure prosperity and well being.

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CONTRIBUTE TO THE STABILITY & SAFETY OF THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

BENEFIT FROM SPACE AND ITS SCIENCES TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT

ACHIEVE PRESENCE IN SPACE

ATTAIN LEADERSHIP FOR THE KINGDOM IN THE FIELD OF SPACE

CREATE A SPACE SECTOR

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THE SPACE POLICY OF THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN i s d i v i d e d i n t o t h r e e m a i n sections:

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O B J E C T I V E S : The Kingdoms’ objectives and aspirations related to space utilization and its sciences.

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R E Q U I R E M E N T S : The basic success factors required to accomplish the objectives of this policy.

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G O V E R N A N C E : Evaluation of the role of the NSSA and other Stakeholders in applying this policy measuring the level of implementation.

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Artist’s rendering of astronauts conducting science and exploration activities on the lunar surface.

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ARTEMIS III SURFACE OPERATIONS NASA

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More than five decades have passed since the first astronauts walked on the Moon. Since then, only a fleet of probes have visited the Moon, and they have done an amazing job of providing research centers with a huge amount of information about the lunar environment. These research endeavors contributed to a deeper understanding of the Moon and paved the way for a rethink of its visit, but this time for different purposes than before.

In the past two decades, with the increasing role of the private sector in the space industry, investors began to think seriously about exploiting space in a way that enhances returns on investment. The idea of investment return from mining on the surface of the Moon and expanding the implementation of scientific research emerged, in addition to promoting space tourism, including visiting the Moon.

During the past few years, a positive change occurred towards returning to the Moon, as it was announced by the USA, Europe, Russia, China, Japan, India, UAE, Israel, and South Korea their ambitions to explore the Moon through huge investments in major projects. The most vital project

among all was the $100 billion Artemis program which is managed by NASA. The Artemis program includes scenarios for staying on the Moon and its orbit for long periods and establishing a space base that would be used as a launch station for deep space missions due to the fact that the Moon has much weaker gravity than Earth, allowing rockets to take off with ease which also makes it economically more feasible, in addition to the possibility of mining, based on the results of scientific researches that confirmed the presence of precious metals on the lunar surface.

One of the significant goals of the Artemis mission is to return men and set the first woman on the surface of the Moon in 2025. The complete Artemis program will comprise 37 launches and establish a permanent base on the Moon.

Traveling to the Moon will still be expensive. However, Artemis program planners are very confident that the benefits outweigh the cost. Even more important, the US government anticipates a good return on investment.

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The comparison between the future Moon's missions with Apollo's missions will led us to recognize the fact that Apollo’s initial investments in technology, climate satellite systems, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), and advanced communication devices created to support the lunar missions are now part of everyday life on Earth. As happened before, new technologies developed to support future lunar missions would definitely find their way into the world's economies, spurring a good return on investment.

China and Japan are investing heavily in space missions and looking quite seriously at sending lunar missions.

China and Russia have announced a collaborative effort to build a lunar base before 2030. The Chinese have been very clear about their intentions and have good capability to carry out a long-term lunar mission. They are planning for a crewed lunar landing and developing new spacecraft for such missions. Furthermore, China is planning to build a scientific research station on the Moon's south pole within the coming 10 years.

The efforts of other countries to reach the moon to study it from its orbit or to land on its surface vary considerably.

Until today, only eight nations managed to reach the surface of the moon as part of successful or semisuccessful missions.

Current technological advances and technologies being developed for lunar missions will allow scientists to conduct more detailed studies of the lunar surface and subsurface.

Scientists will also seek answers to the big questions about how the solar system formed, the formation of the moon, and its geology. Moon exploration missions will stimulate scientific research and innovation on a large scale. The harsh environment of the moon requires a lot of investments, research efforts, and innovations to overcome it and enable humans to establish colonies on the surface of the closest natural object to the Earth.

Scientific evidence supports the abundance of a range of worthy natural resources with high industrial value that can be extracted through Moon mining, which is seen as one of the most important returns on investment in current lunar missions.

In addition, studies based on analyzing moon soil and rocks collected during the six missions that landed humans on the lunar surface.

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On the Surface: Artemis Base Camp

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Artist’s rendering of astronauts conducting science and exploration activities on the lunar surface.

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What they found was surprising, there was a lot more water present than previously thought. In addition, there is an evidence of water ice at the moon's poles, hidden in craters where sunlight does not reach. NASA is planning to utilize this water to support the colonization of the lunar surface and the forthcoming deep space missions.

Returning to the Moon is an important move in planning for future Mars missions which are getting increased attention in the last few years. The hope is that humans could learn from their stay on the Moon how to live in an unfriendly environment before they put down their foot on more distant locations like Mars. Thus, the accumulated experiences and the developed solutions will pave the way for the Mars missions and beyond.

The Moon is a treasure trove and for this reason several countries are investing a lot of their resources to visit the Moon as early as possible in an undeclared race. Scientists from different fields strongly believe that humanity's expected return to the lunar surface in the few years to come could help life on Earth and introduce a tremendous scientific shift.

In addition to what has been mentioned above as examples of the advantage of the return to the Moon, here are some extra prime examples summarized in the following points: • The Moon could be a source of unlimited solar energy for Earth by collecting solar power via very lowcost solar panels and beaming it down to Earth in the form of microwave beam. • The Moon is rich with Helium-3 which is used for clean and safe nuclear fusion power, medical applications, and other uses.

• The far side of the Moon could be utilized to construct radio and optical telescopes advancing human knowledge of the Cosmos and searching for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations without any interference from Earth’s signals.

• The Moon could be a good alternative place to store Earth’s hazardous industrial materials, waste and pollutants without worrying about their side effects on the environment.

• The establishment of lunar orbiting laboratories will contribute to the implementation of plenty of scientific experiments that will have a direct impact on scientific progress

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China and Japan are investing heavily in space missions and looking quite seriously at sending lunar missions.

China and Russia have announced a collaborative effort to build a lunar base before 2030. The Chinese have been very clear about their intentions and have good capability to carry out a long-term lunar mission. They are planning for a crewed lunar landing and developing new spacecraft for such missions. Furthermore, China is planning to build a scientific research station on the Moon's south pole within the coming 10 years.

The efforts of other countries to reach the moon to study it from its orbit or to land on its surface vary considerably. Until today, only eight nations managed to reach the surface of the moon as part of successful or semi-successful missions.

Current technological advances and technologies being developed for lunar missions will allow scientists to conduct more detailed studies of the lunar surface and subsurface.

Scientists will also seek answers to the big questions about how the solar system formed, the formation of the moon, and its geology. Moon exploration missions will stimulate scientific research and

innovation on a large scale. The harsh environment of the moon requires a lot of investments, research efforts, and innovations to overcome it and enable humans to establish colonies on the surface of the closest natural object to the Earth.

Scientific evidence supports the abundance of a range of worthy natural resources with high industrial value that can be extracted through Moon mining, which is seen as one of the most important returns on investment in current lunar missions.

In addition, studies based on analyzing moon soil and rocks collected during the six missions that landed humans on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972 indicate the presence of valuable resources that can be used in other space missions, for example, NASA believes that liquid oxygen can be extracted from the moon easily and stored to be used for other space missions, especially missions to explore the red planet, as it is a major component of the fuel needed for space missions.

We must not overlook the fact that in the past two decades NASA has smashed a series of probes on the Moon's surface to measure the amount of water in or under the rocks.

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worldwide. In addition, such laboratories will support the human presence on the moon's surface for long periods and could help in designing the similar future Mars orbiting laboratories.

• Colonization of the lunar surface cannot be done and sustained by an individual nation, hence, different countries sharing the same interests must work together and this will enhance the international collaboration for the benefit of all mankind which could support and sustain the peace on Earth.

The relationship between the Earth and the Moon is imperative for the existence of life on Earth. The Moon has been instrumental in supporting human existence on Earth for thousands of years. The Moon's role today is becoming increasingly important and will support human development and growth for many decades to come. To achieve this, we must return to the moon, study it closely, understand it well, and make use of it in a fair manner that preserves its environment and ensures the sustainability of its natural resources. In utilizing the Moon’s natural resources, humans should avoid repeating their previous mistakes done on Earth.. !

The future generations will be connected in an unprecedented way to the Moon, and it will be the source of great human accomplishments beyond our current ability to imagine. In conclusion, we can say

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the Moon is our hope."

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DR. MOHAMED E. AL-ASEERI CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER National Space Science Agency (NSSA) Dr Al-Aseeri brings a wealth of extensive academic and professional experience to NSSA. He holds a PhD in Reactors Design from the University of Florida, USA. He also holds a Master’s degree in Reactors Design from the University of Florida, a Master’s degree in Bioreactors from the University of Manchester, and an equivalent certificate to Master’s degree in Academic Practice from the University of York St. John (UK), in addition to holding a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bahrain.

Dr. Al-Aseeri had worked as a Chief Executive Officer for Bahrain Polytechnic, Director of the Accreditation and Licensing Directorate under the Higher Education Council, Director of the Educational Resources and Techniques Directorate at the Ministry of Education, Project Director of the King Hamad Library, and Director of the Technical and Vocational Education Directorate at the Ministry of Education.

He also served as Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Bahrain and has published articles in several scientific journals and holds more than 65 professional degrees in various fields from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Al-Aseeri was a member of the Working Group on the National Qualifications Framework. He represented the Kingdom of Bahrain in the GCC team for the exploitation of atomic energy in the production of electricity and desalination. He is currently a member of the board of trustees for the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat) and a member of the Global Future Council on Space (World Economic Forum) and represents the NSSA in many committees at international and national levels such as the Arab Space Group and the National Committee for the Governance of Geospatial Information. !

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LINDA RESTREPO Linda Restrepo is Director of Education and Innovation, Human Health Education and Research Foundation. She is a recognized Women in Technology Leader, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence.

Restrepo's expertise also includes Exponential Technologies, Computer Algorithms, Research, Implementation, and Management of Complex Humanmachine Systems. Global Economic Impacts Research. Restrepo is President of a global government and military defense multidisciplinary research and strategic development firm and has been cleared to Top Secret by the Defense Industrial Security Agency.

She has directed Corporate Technology Commercialization through the US National Laboratories. Emerging Infectious Diseases, Restrepo is also the Chief Executive Officer of Professional Global Outreach. Restrepo has advanced degrees from The University of Texas and New Mexico State University.

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LINDA RESTREPO PUBLISHER EDITOR

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TECHNOLOGY IN THE MAKING DISCLAIMER: This Magazine is designed to provide information, entertainment and motivation to our readers. It does not render any type of political, cybersecurity, computer programming, defense strategy, ethical, legal or any other type of professional advice. It is not intended to, neither should it be construed as a comprehensive evaluation of any topic. The content of this Presentation is the sole expression and opinion of the authors. No warranties or guarantees are expressed or implied by the authors or the Editor. Neither the authors nor the Editor are liable for any physical, psychological, emotional, financial, or commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special, incidental, consequential or other damages. You are responsible for your own choices, actions, and results.

LINDA RESTREPO

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PUBLISHER - EDITOR

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TECHNOLOGY IN THE MAKING

LINDA RESTREPO

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PUBLISHER - EDITOR

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