By Jim Little | jlittle@al.com The Huntsville Times
Few 10 year olds can claim being an inventor recognized by their government, but for Adeeb Alblooshi that's exactly what happen when he invented a waterproof prosthetic leg for his father.
Alblooshi made a second trip to Space Camp at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center this week from his home in the United Arab Emirates, but his last trip to America was as part of a tour with the Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology.
The prosthetic leg came after Alblooshi wanted his father – who suffered from polio, according CNN – to be able swim in the ocean, and the invention got the attention of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the crown prince of Dubai.
"I want to be an inventor, so I can help the human race," Alblooshi says during a model rocket launching at Space Camp on Wednesday.
Alblooshi has gone all out on his model rocket design, adding more fins for extra stability. Most of the other kids have designed their rockets for a short flight, so they can keep them as a souvenir.
"I want mine to go the highest," Alblooshi says.
After his prosthetic leg, Alblooshi enrolled in a program in Dubai where the government funded more of his inventions, including a car seatbelt that monitors heart rate.
During his tour with the Emirates Science Institute, Albooshi went to the U.K., France, Belgium, Germany and Italy. He says the people in Alabama have been the nicest, but he could do without the flies that bother everyone at the model rocket range during the humid afternoon
Alblooshi sets up his rocket and stands at the controls as his fellow space came trainees start the count down. As predicted his rocket flies the much higher and straighter than all the others. It goes so high it trajectory allows it to become immortalized in the Space Camp model rocket "hall of fame" – a stand of trees approximately 100 yards away from the launch pad.
Alblooshi's rocket launch is cheered by the other trainees with high-fives and hugs. Then they're off to their next event, a simulation of a launch to the International Space Station where Alblooshi will be mission commander.
"The missions are my favorite part," Alblooshi says.
When asked what Alblooshi's friends back in Dubai think of his trips to Space Camp, he says, "Well they get jealous."