The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) in Dubai is developing a mega-project to simulate life on Mars as part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) progressive plans to establish a human colony on Mars by 2117, announced in 2017.
Mars colonization, also known as the Red Planet, has long been one of the main goals of the world’s space industry. Elon Musk and other prominent figures have been working to pave the way for humankind to become a multi-planet species.
The United Arab Emirates, also known as Dubai, is working tirelessly to build an entire city on Mars by 2117. As part of this effort, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) is currently studying the Mars atmosphere with its Hope spacecraft. It is also building a $136 million mega science city in Dubai that will simulate conditions on Mars.
To give people a feel of what the city that Dubai will build on Mars will look like in 2117, MBRSC has collaborated with BEDU, a Dubai-based company that has pioneered Web3 technologies, to develop the 2117 Metaverse, which will offer an immersive virtual world experience simulating the sensations of being in space as well as landing on Mars, as well as raising awareness of the issues surrounding the exploration and colonization of Mars. Adnan al-Rais, the Mars 2117 program manager at MBRSC, stated:
As we set our sights on ever more challenging destinations for exploration with humans and robots, innovative ideas and future thinking will be critical to helping us reach new milestones, and concepts like this will be supported by MBRSC as we believe this will help us expand our scope of bigger possibilities.
Through this collaboration, the MBRSC hopes to closely map, creatively develop, and visualize the Metaverse elements of 2117 city with BEDU.
In addition, the MBRSC plans to land a rover on the moon later this year, and the UAE’s Mars colonization program has created more than 3,200 jobs for people to work in the space industries.