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NASA’s HERA Campaign 7 Reveals New Emirati Crew Member

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre has chosen Shareef Al Romaithi to undertake simulated missions on Earth.

Published

2 years ago

April 17, 2024

Nour Nasir

NASA

The United Arab Emirates has named a crew member for the upcoming phase of NASA’s Mars simulation mission. Shareef Al Romaithi will join the next phase of NASA’s HERA Campaign 7, spending 45 days at NASA’s Houston, Texas Space Centre with his fellow crew members.

Phase 2 of the second analog study of the UAE Analog Programme is set to begin on May 10. This phase will include an Emirati analog crew member and six experiments from Emirati universities. pic.twitter.com/gxx0F9wjxX

— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) April 15, 2024

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) revealed Al Romaithi’s selection on April 15, 2024. The project, starting on May 10, 2024, seeks to replicate Martian mission conditions to explore the impact of space travel on human physiology and psychology.

Al Romaithi, a seasoned pilot with over 16 years of aviation experience, will reside in a specialized facility in Houston known as HERA (Human Exploration Research Analog). The three-story habitat simulates the isolation and environmental conditions of space exploration in a program spanning multiple phases. The first phase concluded in March, with subsequent phases scheduled for August and November.

The UAE’s MBRSC highlighted Al Romaithi’s involvement in the mission via X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing his role in advancing space exploration. The selection marks a significant step in the UAE’s space endeavors, showcasing its commitment to international collaborations in space exploration.

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“We are pleased to announce the selection of Shareef Al Romaithi for the second analogue study of the UAE Analogue Programme at the Hera habitat, marking another significant step towards the UAE’s vision for space exploration,” said the director general of MBRSC, Salem Al Marri.

“This mission, blending scientific research and international collaboration with NASA, is poised to deepen our understanding of the physiological and psychological challenges of long-duration space travel through experiments here on Earth,” added Salem Al Marri. “The UAE is honored to be part of this journey, and we will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible and inspire future generations to be part of the space sector,” the director general concluded.

Related Topics:NASA Space United Arab Emirates

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At I/O 2026, Sundar Pichai Concedes AI Must Deliver Real Value

Gemini 3.5, a personal agent called Spark, agentic shopping, and Android XR eyewear are all aimed at making AI feel useful, not just impressive.

Published

6 days ago

May 20, 2026

Nour Nasir

at io 2026 sundar pichai concedes ai must deliver real value

Google

Google’s annual I/O developer conference (I/O 2026) has recently become a status update on the same question: can the company turn its AI spending into products people use every day? This year, chief executive Sundar Pichai described Google as being in a phase of hyper progress, while conceding this is the part of the cycle where people want to see real value in the products they use on a day-to-day basis.

The strategy on display was to push agents — AI systems that act on a user’s behalf — into nearly every Google product at once. Search now has an “intelligent search box” that returns generated explainer videos alongside links. Gmail, Docs, YouTube and Maps are gaining their own agent layers, including a Docs Live feature that turns spoken instructions into drafted text with citations.

Two new models, Gemini 3.5 and a cheaper Gemini 3.5 Flash, arrived the same day. Google says 900 million people now use Gemini, and that more than 50 billion images have been generated with it. The pricing tier names are likely to confuse buyers: a new AI Ultra plan launches at $100 a month, while the older Gemini AI Ultra drops from $250 to $200.

The flashier announcements were Gemini Omni, a video generator pitched as a more realistic answer to OpenAI’s discontinued Sora 2, and Gemini Spark, a personal agent that handles recurring tasks across a user’s Google account. A new universal shopping cart lets agents complete purchases across multiple retailers from inside Google itself, placing the company between the merchant and the buyer, and also owning the checkout.

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Google also confirmed its Android XR eyewear, built with Samsung and frames from Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Audio-only glasses ship this autumn; a display-equipped version, which would superimpose live translations into the wearer’s field of view, is still in development. Both sets translate, however only the display version shows you the result.

What Pichai did not resolve is the bargain underneath all this. An agent is only useful to the degree it knows your calendar, your inbox, your shopping history and your physical surroundings. Google has now confirmed that, in time, the same context may carry advertising.