A Russian rocket carrying four Arab satellites, including Dubai's environment nanosat, took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.
The commercial rideshare mission took off at 10.07am, Gulf Standard Time, with payload separation four hours later.
The Soyuz 2.1a rocket was carrying 38 payloads from 18 countries, including two from Saudi Arabia, one from the UAE and another from Tunisia.
The primary payload was South Korea's CAS500-1 satellite. The initial launch attempt on March 20 was postponed by a voltage spike in the upper stage of the rocket.
Once Dubai's DMSat-1 becomes operational, Dubai Municipality and Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre will use the data it collects to create an air quality map of the UAE.
Built by the University of Toronto’s Space Flight Laboratory, the 15-kilogram small satellite will use three scientific instruments to gather data – a polarimeter imager and two spectrometers.
It will take scientific images of the atmosphere over the UAE, helping measure the location and levels of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. Images will be received days after launch.
Dust caused by regular sandstorms in the Emirates was considered as an air pollutant.
Alia Al Harmoudi, director of the environment department at Dubai Municipality, said dust is harmful to health.
“It [dust] is one of the main areas we will try to utilise through the satellite to enhance health studies and measure how it is related to health,” she said during a media briefing last week.
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A cyclist in Dubai's Discovery Gardens covers his eyes during a sandstorm in July, 2020. Pawan Singh / The National -

Traffic during the sandstorm in Discovery Gardens area in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -

Visibility was reduced for drivers on Tuesday afternoon. Pawan Singh / The National -

Cloudy weather is forecast in the coming days. Pawan Singh / The National -

Sandstorms are relatively common in the summer months. Pawan Singh / The National -

The Dubai metro pictured on Tuesday. Pawan Singh / The National -

Visibility was reduced to 20 metres or so at one stage, in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National -

The weather in Dubai. Antonie Robertson/The National -

The weather in Dubai. Antonie Robertson/The National -

Sandstorm weather in Dubai. Antonie Robertson/The National -

Sandstorm weather in Dubai. Antonie Robertson/The National -

The sandstorm at Sheih Zayed Bridge, Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -

The sandstorm at the downtown Abu Dhabi E10 area. Victor Besa / The National -

Al Reem Island from downtown Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -

The sandstorm at Twofour54, Abu Dhabi. Victor Besa / The National -

The sandstorm at the Abu Dhabi E10 Highway area. Victor Besa / The National
The satellite will also measure levels of greenhouse gases present over the UAE that contribute to climate change, such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour.
The payload from Saudi Arabia includes the Kingdom’s Shaheen Sat satellite. It will be used for photography and maritime tracking. University students designed the second satellite for educational use.
Tunisia’s Challenge One was launched into space on Monday. It will focus on the Internet of Things and is a precursor to a constellation of 30 other satellites.
The view from The National
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
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Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
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All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
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Saturday, September 30
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