An Egyptian student has been offered
opportunities at NASA Space Agency and several other American companies
after proposing that the US aerospace giant use the launch of its
rockets to host an enormous barbecue.
Sarah Abouelkhair, a student at the American University in Cairo,
contacted NASA on Instagram to suggest that laying meat underneath the
fire of rocket launchers would help solve world hunger, save energy,
increase employment satisfaction, and help the company against its rival
Space X.
Having expected no response from the space agency, Abouelkhair was
shocked when she was later contacted by NASA, who said it were genuinely
interested in the idea, and offered to fly her to the US to make
further plans.
“We think this is a genius idea, and we loved it so much that we decided
to invite you to our next launch, and maybe discuss some BBQ
logistics,” the message read.
She was further stunned when competing space agency Space X, created by
business magnate Elon Musk, contacted her with a rival offer, proposing
to invite her to their headquarters in California for a month to develop
a prototype.
Abouelkhair was subsequently contacted by media companies and popular
personalities, with Buzzfeed News requesting exclusive access to her
trip, internet broadcaster Netflix offering to create a documentary on
her journey and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres requesting to meet her
when she arrived in the US.
Whilst the Egyptian student is yet to announce her decision on which
invitation she will accept, her story has been well received on social
media, with fellow Arab and tech enthusiasts praising the company’s
unorthodox approaches to recruiting new talent.
NASA is well-known for encouraging creativity in students and potential
employees. This month, the annual NASA Space Apps Challenge took place
in multiple locations around the world, including Cairo. The
international event that takes place over two days encourages the youth
to use their creativity to think of how technology could help solve
global issues, ranging from poverty to pollution.
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