Remaking our worlds: Exploring Mars, discovering Earth at World Space Week

At Friday launch, Suparco chairperson talks about communication in disaster-hit areas.

KARACHI:

Having discovered nearly all of Earth, the world will explore Mars during the World Space Week that is being observed from October 4 to October 10.

In Karachi, the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco) will be celebrating the week with various activities, it announced at the inauguration ceremony at the National Centre for Remote Sensing and Geo Informatics, Suparco headquarters on Friday.

Talking about the discoveries made by science, Suparco chairperson Major General (retired) Ahmed Bilal revealed that, through remote sensing applications, communication can be maintained in disaster-hit areas. "Communication is the first thing that is affected following a disaster," he pointed out. "Through space technology and dish satellites communication can now be re-established in disaster hit areas, such as Awaran."

The mystery of humans

Former Higher Education Commission chairperson Prof. Dr Attaur Rehman, who was the chief guest, admired the space science. "It is an exciting frontier as exhilarating space activities, such as the Mars fly-by mission in 2018, are taking place every second," he said. "With every passing day, the mystery of space becomes deeper."

In his presentation Dr Rehman said, "The atom of your skin was once part of a burning star." He added that humans are the greatest mystery of all. Dr Rehman talked about the presence of water in other planets, even the moon, but how life cannot exist on it.

Red planet

In an attempt to keep the global theme of dedicating the week to the discoveries of the Red Planet, Dr Rehman explained how, after a certain period of time, the Earth's magnetic field goes through a reversal. The north becomes the south and the south becomes the north, he said. This occurs after a period that may vary from tens of thousands of years to a million years. "The last one happened 780,000 years ago when north became south and south became north."

Why celebrate a week?

According to Bilal, the aim of celebrating the World Space Week was to promote awareness among decision makers and the public on space science, technology and its applications for further discoveries. "The idea is to inculcate the benefits of the space technology in people's mind," he said. The objective of the week was to encourage greater use of space for sustainable economic development, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2013.