RaheQamar

RaheQamar (راہ قمر) aka R-E-Q is a private funded project for the propagation of educational content on Space exploration for Pakistanis within Pakistan and abroad. A group of students from the Institute of Space Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan, have embarked on a mission to propagate space education to the general masses, with the motto "Every step we take is a milestone!"

History

In early 1960s, Pakistan had the first space rocketry program in the region in collaboration with NASA.[1] The political and economic situation of the country and multiple international sanctions ever since did not support the space research and the area seldom saw growth except in the military realm with missile defense programs. During Musharraf's rule, the Institute of Space Technology was inaugurated after the realization that space research and satellite development was needed with the development of Paksat-1R.[2]

Mission

RaheQamar or R-E-Q is Pakistan's first privately funded space education and research project. Mohammad Iftekhar Yezdani, Muhammad Hassan Qazi and Rohail Zaheer teamed up on January 14, 2013 and began planning. Now, with many students across Pakistan and several outside Pakistan, RaheQamar is moving forward with several space education activities and preparing a resource base purely in Urdu for Pakistani students. Mr. Iftekhar introduced RaheQamar on Kay2 TV's live program called Social Mania on 17 June 2014. Most recent event was the Photobooth for young school kids at the World Space Week 2014 held at the Institute of Space Technology.

The team has started Pakistan's first Radio Talk show called 'RaheQamar' on FM 102.2 in Islamabad/Rawalpindi region.[3] They are preparing a webtv series to be put online soon as well.

Mohammad Iftekhar Yezdani, gave a talk about RaheQamar on TEDxYouth@ClubRd held in Islamabad Club on 2 November 2014.

NASA and ESA have granted permission to RaheQamar for using their educational content in Pakistan.

Zara Shafique, a student of Space Sciences working for RaheQamar, visited Government degree model science college in Muzaffarabad, AJK and educated students about basic concepts of Space Sciences.

RaheQamar is selected & featured in "All Pakistan Startup Expo & Awards 2015." The project has also been selected as among the top 100 best startups of Pakistan.

Mohammad Iftekhar Yezdani and Zara Shafique gave a talk on the International Science and Youth Symposium 2015 held at GIKI. They introduced RaheQamar to the audience and talked about the scope, and need of Space education in Pakistan.

Mohammad Iftekhar Yezdani has participated in the Space Horizons 2016 workshop at Brown University which was funded by NASA. The workshop was on the International City on the Moon and he gave a talk on the Space Industry in Pakistan and introduced RaheQamar, SUPARCO and IST to the international audience at the workshop. "Mohammad Yezdani, a student at the Institute of Space Technology in Islamabad, Pakistan, gave a talk to the group about the Pakistani space program, explaining how despite religious conservatism and national skepticism towards space, he is leading an effort to provide space classes in elementary schools. “I need to get the entire population in Pakistan to start dreaming about space,” he said." [4]

Project Rah-e-Qamar, in their endeavor to build a proper platform for Pakistan's space enthusiasts, are pursuing tasks in:

  1. Establishing a REQ Ombudsman’s media wing for Idea development for the proliferation of Space knowledge in Pakistan
  2. Set a Minimum Weekly event allocated to Space Education
  3. Career Guidance Workshops for Teens and Youth at different universities
  4. Empowerment of Women to join this endeavor
  5. REQ Ombudsman's social media wing
  6. Explore further Benefits for Future of Pakistani Youth in Space
  7. Establish an Exchange Platform for Young Professionals
  8. Promotion of a Shared Space & Youth Identity
  9. Promotion of Youth Participation in Space Exploration
  10. Art as a Tool to spread REQ's mission and objectives[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

RaheQamar team has gained support from a growing number of supporters in the formation of the Pakistani Space Party (PSP) which, as part of a confederation of Space Parties and with growing associations with Space Parties and other organizations worldwide, believes humankind can fulfill its potential in an ethical and sustainable manner in the near future. PSP aims at joining hands with space advocates from around the country to let Pakistani government know that there is strong constituent support for an ambitious space program. PSP endorses the values and concepts enshrined in the United Nations space treaties and agreements for space and on Earth. These values and concepts include international cooperation, the support of all nations, peaceful use of military, scientific endeavor for the benefit of all humankind and environmental protection.

See also

The Team

Founder Mohammad Iftekhar Yezdani,
Co-Founder Muhammad Hassan Qazi,
Project Managers Khola Anees, Zara Shafique,
Editor( R-E-Q Space Blog) Uswa Ali
Writers and Researchers Nayab Manzoor, Maria Zafar, Ayesha Arshad, Nazeela Aimen Kazmi, Prem Rathi, Pawan Akhani, Zohaib Ahmed, Naeem Afzal
Social Media team Huzaifa Hussain, Wajiha Yasmin, Amra Saeed, Arooba Nawaz, Prem Rathi, Pawan Akhani, Moiz Ahmed
Technical and Social outreach team Rashid Mehmood, Sheikh Waqas, Hassan Mehmood
Event Manager Moiz Ahmed, International Marketing Managers Sahar Hamadi, Zineb Al-Alami

References

Actual Address of Office

Office no.2, Khan Arcade, Commercial Area, Pakistan Town, Islamabad, Pakistan Map coordinates: 33.570748, 73.137244

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 27, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.