A new approach from the space sector is required to reconnect with the public and make future missions exciting again, an Abu Dhabi summit was told on Tuesday.
George Friedman, a geopolitical forecaster, said at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate that those leading space programmes were struggling to garner interest in Moon missions.
Space agencies, particularly Nasa, are hoping to send humans to the lunar surface once again, more than 50 years after the Apollo era ended.
Nasa launched its Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon on November 16.
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Sarah Al Amiri, Minister for Public Education and Future Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, talks to Dr Hiroshi Yamakawa of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, with India's Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh, centre, at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate -
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, at the debate -
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, right, with Sheikh Abdullah and Dr Singh -
Omran Sharaf, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation for Advanced Science and Technology, speaks on the subject of the new geopolitics of space -
Ms Al Amiri speaks at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate -
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed -
Dr Singh of India speaking at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate -
Israel's Mr Herzog speaking at the Abu Dhabi Space Debate
The spacecraft took off on the world’s most powerful rocket, the Space Launch System, in an event that was streamed live around the world.
Mr Friedman said he was “horrified that no one cares about Orion”, even though it has travelled farther than any other human-rated spacecraft.
“Orion went far beyond the Moon and, in the United States, hardly anyone knew it," he said. "The technology was there, it was brilliant. The purpose was outstanding but there was no poetry.
“When John F Kennedy spoke about ‘we go to the Moon not because it’s easy but because it’s hard’, I don’t know what he meant but I know what it felt like — it felt like a necessity.
“So, part of this programme of going into space must be the transformation of the hearts of people into those who lust for space.
“If we really want to go to space, we don’t need a new programme, we need to resurrect that excitement.”
Connecting with the public
The Orion flight was part of Nasa’s Artemis 1 mission, the first of many planned missions under the programme through which Nasa hopes to build a sustainable human presence on the Moon.
Mr Friedman said the public would not be interested in technical details but would need an “emotional connection”.
The space agency has conducted much public outreach for the Artemis 1 mission, but most of this has involved sharing the technical capabilities of the rocket and spacecraft.
"People wonder why there's no enthusiasm for the space programme — it's because it's made as dull and tiresome as possible," he said.
"But this is a realm that will be extraordinary in the sense of a new planet to go, but very ordinary in the sense that human things like songs, war and peace will be there as well.
"I have no idea what the Moon's national anthem will sound like, but it will have one. No nations exist without a song and principals."
The UAE has also launched a long-term Moon exploration programme and has been conducting public outreach for its first mission, which involves the Rashid lunar rover.
It will be carried to the Moon on the Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, built by Japanese private company ispace.
The mission will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this month.
