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Outlook: From Gaza to Nasa: A space odyssey

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Loay Elbasyouni with the Mars Ingenuity helicopter

01/09/2021 GMT

From Gaza to Nasa: A space odyssey

BBC World Service - Outlook, From Gaza to Nasa: A space odyssey

Palestinian Loay Elbasyouni was part of the team that launched a helicopter from Mars

Palestinian engineer Loay Elbasyouni was part of the team that launched a helicopter from the surface of Mars in April 2021.

Engineer Loay Elbasyouni was part of the team that created an innovative type of helicopter that flew over the surface of Mars in April 2021. The helicopter, named Ingenuity, performed the first ever controlled flight by an aircraft on another planet. But Loay grew up a long way from NASA and the US. He is from the Gaza Strip, part of the Palestinian Territories, and lived through the first Intifada as a child. He tells Emily Webb about the many obstacles he had to overcome to be part of that historic moment in space exploration.

Tessa Fontaine had always been a little overawed by her adventurous mother, Teresa. Growing up in North California Tessa was a shy child, and she and Teresa struggled to understand each other. But when Teresa had a major stroke that left her in a coma in hospital, Tessa discovered a taste for adventure she never knew she had. 

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(Picture: Loay Elbasyouni with a test model of the Mars Ingenuity helicopter. Credit: Erric Wright)

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