Dubai: Students recreate ISS gadgets in school lab – News

The Space Lab program will be available as an elective for students in grades 9-10 of the IBMYP Design program in the upcoming academic year.

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Various instruments used on the International Space Station (ISS) have been recreated at a space laboratory at a school in Dubai.

Inaugurated on Thursday at GEMS International School – Al Khail (GIS), the space lab will explore important topics such as hydroponic farming on Mars, designing 3D games in the metaverse for social interaction, AI-assisted robotic animals for Mars, autonomous vehicles for transportation on Mars, self-repair in space, and the use of robotic arms, wearable haptics and gesture control in space operations.

This programme will be available as an elective for 9th and 10th grade Design students in the IBMYP in the upcoming academic year.

GIS offers a diverse set of design courses including Product Design, Digital Design/UI/UX, Food Design, Fashion Design, STEM Aviation, and now Space Lab.

“I don’t want my students to be consumers of technology. I want them to be programmers. This space is not for playing games, it’s a testing area. Students have been empowered and given laptops on which they design everything and they only go to Space Lab for testing. Here they learn how to grow plants in space. They study light and humidity conditions,” says Vikas Singh, head of secondary design and director of the Centre of Excellence in Aviation, Aeronautics and Space at GEMS International School – Al Khail.

He explained that traditional teaching methods are not used. Instead, student-centered learning environments are created where students can quickly develop their skills.

Referring to another project, Singh said students use compressed air in mechanical projects, for example, to move objects using Newton’s third law of motion.

“Driverless cars, which don’t have a steering wheel, are designed to deliver things. This requires students to build human ergonomics and anatomy into the robot, developing a robotic arm that is used in space to deploy, maneuver and grab things,” he added.

Interested students discussed their work in detail and described the exhibitions.

Pointing to hydroponic farming being used in space because it uses fewer resources and space to grow more produce, Russian student Stepan Litovchenko said: “Here we don’t use soil, we only use water to grow plants. The water is full of different minerals, which is good enough for growing plants. It saves space. You can create many different layers. It’s good for space. It’s a fully controlled environment, so you can change the temperature to be able to grow crops. We did a school project on this earlier.”

Similarly, Rehana, a class 10 student, shed light on a remote-controlled mechanical arm, often used in space to perform tasks without human intervention. She said, “It can be really helpful in space centres to fix things that humans can’t do and reduce the number of fatalities. It took me about a month to program it as I had to learn the basic functions. It can be used as a real arm in factories and for everyday household chores, to lift objects and switch things on.”

The interactive robot also amused the participants. But the students explained that it goes beyond entertainment, it is a great educational tool. “For example, in one of the Asian Games, this Go2 Pro robot was used in the javelin sport. So it can be used for sports, entertainment, and it can also be used in space,” said 9th grader Chewon.

Enthusiastic students welcomed Nora AlMatrooshi, the first female astronaut from the United Arab Emirates, and Mohammad AlMulla, who recently completed the NASA Astronaut Candidate Class training program.

The Space Lab was opened at the school, where astronauts from the UAE performed a ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Observing these objects, AlMatrooshi joked, “I envy what you have.”

She added: “I noticed that you have this image at the back of the human brain and it is actually the core of human spaceflight. It is human. It is the human need to explore. It is a good reminder that the core of everything that humans do is human.”

The school has also expressed interest in collaborating with Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in future endeavors. GIS also aims to collaborate with a number of other schools in Dubai to incorporate aviation, aeronautics and space into its dynamic curriculum.

Addressing the students, Mohammed said, “I was amazed by the school, the lab and the facilities you have in the aerospace lab, which is my field. Seeing the robotics and space lab made me feel safe because one of our goals is to inspire the next generation and I feel that the next generation is in safe hands.”

Among the distinguished guests, Aisha Miran, Director General of KHDA, also attended the inaugural event.