Prof. Ilias talked about the different SAASST research laboratories and invited the students to visit the academy and participate in its activities. The recent Mars missions were discussed in terms of their importance in understanding planet Mars and why, presently, it is such a dead world. The UAE Mars Hope will give us an in-depth analysis of the Martian atmosphere and understand how atmospheric gases escape from the planet. The USA Perseverance rover will take several Martian soil samples, and hopefully, these samples will be collected by a European rover by 2026 and reach Earth by 2031. The Chinese Tianwen-1 is a three-set mission: an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. The Chinese orbiter is still looking for the best spot to land to allow the rover to perform its mission. This may happen by early May 2021.

The students were able to ask many essential and intelligent questions about the Mars missions, the universe, black holes, and several other scientific subjects. We believe that this type of activity is a way to open students' minds and let them have a first-hand experience with what SAASST is doing as research. We hope for more activities of this kind in the future.