Mostaqbal Portal Broadcasts Rare Live Feed of the Earth Orbiting the Sun

Sunday 09 October 2016

Dubai - MENA Herald: Dubai Future Foundation’s knowledge platform Mostaqbal Portal broadcast rare live-feed footage of the Earth as it orbits the sun. The footage was obtained in collaboration with US space agency NASA.

The 15-minute video was posted on the Portal’s official online platform at 4:00pm on Tuesday, October 4, 2016. It was filmed using highly sophisticated techniques and equipment and then broadcast from the International Space Station, allowing Mostaqbal Portal followers to enjoy the breathtaking views of the sunrise and the Earth’s movement.

On social media, where the Portal’s page boasts more than four million followers, the video was viewed more than 350,000 times, received over 22,000 likes and 5,000 comments from around the world.

Fatma Bujsaim, Project Manager at Dubai Future Foundation, said: “As part of the Foundation’s effort to spread knowledge in the Arab world, we are working through Mostaqbal Portal with various world-leading scientific institutions to make scientific research more appealing to broader segments of society. The Portal is one of the Foundation’s flagship initiatives, which aims to inspire a new generation of Arab scientists and innovators and encourage them to take the first step towards affecting positive change in the world.”

The International Space Station’s orbit around the Earth is approximately 354 kilometers (220 miles) in length, it travels at around 27,700 km/h (17,211 mph), and can, therefore, traverse the Earth’s orbit in 92 minutes. Consequently, astronauts on board the station witness a sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes – that’s almost 15 or 16 of each, every 24 hours.

Mostaqbal Portal is one of the most important and most popular knowledge platforms in the Arab world; it allows its followers access to research and experiments shared by those working or interested in the fields of science and technology.

Dubai Future Foundation had launched the Portal to support the production of Arabic-language scientific content, and to disseminate studies, articles, visuals, and infographics in many areas related to science and technology.

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