KEYNOTE SPEECH
GLOBAL SPACE TECHNOLOGY FORUM
Dec. 7-9, 2009 Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Sultan binSalman bin AbdulAziz Al-Saud
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mission Specialist
Space Shuttle STS-51G
June 17-24, 1985
Ladies and Gentlemen – Asalamalaikum and good morning
I feel privileged today to be amongst this distinguished gathering. In fact, I may be the least qualified on the subject matter of this conference, but I have, nevertheless, decided to participate with the hope of learning from the conference's deliberations, and meeting some of the distinguished scientists and experts on the issues of space.
I also hope that my participation will bring another dimension to the conference for I may be the only participant, who have actually flown to space.
About 25 years ago (I hate to admit I have aged that much), I had the privilege of being a member of the crew of the 18th space shuttle mission STS 51G. On 7:33AM Florida time, 6 crew members and myself launched on a 7-day mission, to outer space, carrying with us 3 communications satellites including, the second satellite for the Arab world, as well as a variety of scientific experiments. Above all we carried with us the responsibility to continue and build on the successes and experiences of space travel accumulated over many years.
I also had the added responsibility of communicating my mission, not only to the team who worked with me on the scientific experiments, but more so, to the millions of young people in the Arab and Islamic world who, for the first time, were exposed to space travel, in such a visible and direct way, for in our part of the world, the interest in space travel and sciences was limited to Arabs and Muslims who participated in highly visible space related scientific endeavors, such as my friend, Dr. Farouk ElBaz, who contributed to the Apollo moon landing program and other accomplished scientists like him.
Many of the same questions were asked in our part of the world at the time our mission was announced, as when space travel started in other, more scientifically advanced societies.
Why do we go to space?
Do people have to physically travel to space? Can't we just send robots?
Are the huge of sums of money spent on space programs justified? Aren't they better spent here on earth to fight hunger and disease?
I have spent a good part of the last 25 years attempting to answer these legitimate questions to audiences across the Islamic & Arab worlds, in universities and schools, and to the many children including mine, who are eager to learn more.
Part of our mission was to change that picture. We set as a primary target for ourselves: To ignite the interest of our youth in space in general and science and technology in particular. We also aspired to promote public interest in space and related sciences in the hope of influencing public policy towards added emphasis on math and science in education and increased support for scientific research.
Today, we can rejoice at the incredible developments we have witnessed in the last 25 years. Indeed, our first manned space experience has had the inspirational impact we had hoped for. Using NASA jargon-MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
It is really one thing to hear about "others" traveling to space, and quite another to see one of your own go up aboard a blazing spaceship. Much like the early days of the space race, where it took a promise to place a human on the moon to galvanize public support for the space program, and the best scientific minds in that era to meet a great challenge.
I do in fact remember that day in 1969, when we all sat glued to our black and white TV sets, to watch one of the greatest moments in human history - the first human steps on the moon. Very few events in my life have had such an impact on me as a human, and a teenager searching for perspective for the future. Our first mission to space, though less dramatic and historic than the moon landing, it has nonetheless, had a profound impact on our young generations.
Until today, I still run into young people who show me photographs of myself and their “mothers and dads" when they were just kids back in ‘85 (I hate telling this story), they tell me how much they heard about the mission from their parents, and how much it has inspired them at that time; people need inspiration to accomplish great things and great things can be costly.
I also remember, there were still much discussion in our area about the importance of satellites to our lives! when we flew to space with the second ArabSat, there are today 4 new generation ArabSat satellites orbiting our earth, providing valuable services to the region. Ten satellites have already been launched and 2 more will be in orbit by 2012.
Can you imagine our world without satellites?
Imagine no satellite TV and radio, no space imaging for weather and agriculture, or searching for water and natural resources and protecting the environment!
Imagine telephone communications and the internet if we had not developed satellite technologies!
Much of the technological development in our modern world were, either developed with a direct connection to the space programs, or as a derivative of it, or even inspired by it. From medicine to modern aviation technology and engineering breakthroughs, many of the scientific and technical innovations that make our lives better today are a result of space research and the on-going quest to explore the distant planets.
Most countries in our region have in fact embraced the potential of space technology, and the great impact it can play in their development. I will take my own country as an example.
Saudi Arabia has been a true believer in the importance of space to national development. It was a principal founder of ArabSat, and its largest shareholder, and has promoted the widespread use of satellite technology in the region. Saudi Arabia had at the time the most advanced communications system in our regions, and today, it is one of the biggest markets for communications technology. Saudi Arabia has also invested heavily in scientific development and education. When a scientific team was invited to participate with experiments aboard the STS-51G mission back in 1985, our universities were ready and eager, and many of them were already involved in some form of space related research.
Saudi Arabia continues to invest heavily in scientific, technological, and human development.
As we speak, over 80,000 Saudis are on scholarships and studying abroad in all corners of the world. 24 public and 8 private universities are being built, on top of the existing 19, serving almost 800,000 students. Over 25% of the national budget is allocated to transform our lower and higher education, and bring it up to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century and beyond, with much emphases on science and technology.
Most of our universities and research centers have in fact already aligned themselves with some of the great institutions of the world, and have focused their programs toward scientific research and technological learning and development.
Saudi Arabia has also invested heavily in the education of the gifted and youth science clubs and science centers, and has committed and funded an ambitions national plan for the development of science and technology. An ambitious space program was launched as a direct outcome from our space mission, with a focus on space related and satellite technologies, (you will hear more on this from my colleague, HH Dr. Turki ibn Saud, the Vice-President of King AbdulAziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the government agency in charge of executing the national science and technology plan).
2009 was also very special for the kingdom. The inauguration of the King Abdullah University for Science and Technology (KAUST), is a turning point for Saudi and regional higher education, and a great step towards placing science and technology in the forefront of our educational and research priorities.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I know that much of what I am saying today is familiar, but my message to you this morning is that we live in a much different world today than when we first flew on board the space shuttle in 1985. At that time, space was the preserve of countries of the 1st world. There were few astronauts and cosmonauts from the 3rd world, let alone from Moslem or Arab countries. There were no national space programs or serious university research programs in most 3rd world countries. There were very few Moslem or Arab space scientists in this area, and most of them worked or studied in Western or Soviet institutions. There was very little public knowledge or interest in space, and there were no events like this one held in this part of the world.
Globalization and the internet were unfamiliar terms to most, not to speak of instant messaging, or gadgets like blackberries glued to the hands of millions. In 1985, people were unable to surf through hundreds of TV channels, or travel easily across our planet for commerce and tourism. Cultural interaction was for the privileged few. Scientific knowledge, sharing and access to databases was nothing like we enjoy today. I remind you again, I am not talking about the stone age, as one of my children likes to remind me every so often, I am talking about 1985!!!
With all these incredible developments, and more to come in the near future inshaaAllah, how then can we talk about ourselves as a region?
We are in fact, already a part of an interdependent world, and anything we do to develop our regions has to impact and be impacted by global developments, this includes scientific developments related to space.
With this in mind, we really have to begin thinking of ourselves in this region as contributors to the future of humanity, as our great Arab and Muslims ancestors have done. The Custodian of the two holy mosques, King Abdullah have made this point so eloquently in his inauguration speech of KAUST on 23 Sept 2009, and I quote:
“The idea of this university has been a dream of mine for more than 25 years…”
“The Islamic civilization historically has played an enormous role in serving humanity… the great Islamic scholars have contributed to many areas of scholarship…”
“For all of that, the university, whose inauguration we celebrate today, did not emerge from nowhere. It is a continuation of what distinguished our civilization in its golden age…”
Ladies and gentlemen:
When the history of this planet is written, it will reflect human achievement and contributions towards all humanity, not one region or race. It is indeed important to benefit from space related science and technology for our regional development, but it’s equally critical to participate in shaping the future of humanity through knowledge building and scientific cooperation.
As we do all live in one planet, we must seize the forces of globalization to build a new world befitting for all future generations to live and prosper.
Space travelers have captured the essence of these thoughts, and transmitted them to us as inspirational moments, as they viewed our spaceship–planet earth traveling through the black void of space, with their own eyes.
Just imagine that you have lived in a house all your life looking outwards, and for a brief moment you are given a chance to climb the hill and view your home and your village or island in the vastness of a desert or sea.
I was very privileged to have had such moments when I flew in 1985. These memories may seem distant when scaled by human time standards, but somehow, they are still fresh in my mind and are etched in my soul as if they have only happened 5 minutes ago.
I reflected on one of those moments when asked by a member of the press, during our last days of flight, about my thoughts when seeing earth from space for the first time. I remember replying as follows:
"The first day or so, we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were only aware of one earth."
Thats why I have always felt that if others had a chance to fly to space, and view earth from the same perspective, they would realize that we are all travelers on the same ship, headed to one eventual destiny.
The world may have been a better one today.
I thank you for your patience, and wish you all very successful deliberations.