ABU DHABI Tasillo Romisch from Germany grabbed much of the attention at the unveiling of the Strategic Framework Plan of the UAE Space Agency held in the presence of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prim Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Romisch from Germany was holding a unique exhibition of his private collection of some of the rarest of rare space articles he has collected over the last 40 years.
During the ceremony, it was also announced that UAE will establish a Dh100 million Space Research Centre in Al Ain to boost the UAE’s first Mars Mission, ‘Hope Probe’ planned for 2021, and also to pioneer research and innovation in the space sector in the Middle East.
The ceremony held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre elaborated the Space Agency’s four strategic goals that include infrastructure development, promoting innovation and scientific research, building national talent through education and training, and forge international cooperation.
Romisch collections
Among the exhibited pieces is an original Russian space suit Sokol K used by an identified astronaut in the 1961 spaceflight along with boots, helmets, specimens of space food, including a frozen spagetti with meat sauce, cutlery and even shaving and toilet accessories used in various space explorations.
According to Romische it was an unfulfilled dream of becoming an astronaut that made him a collector. “I wanted to be an astronaut but I could not. I had to choose economics as my field of study. But I did not give up on my interest in space,” said Romische.
What started with a few newspaper articles and pictures when he was 20, today his collection includes 97,000 rare relics that tell the story of many spaceflights.
Among one of his prized acquisitions is the Moon Dust Romische acquired from an American astronaut’s space suit. “When the Americans came back from the Apollo mission their space suits were dusty and there was a person who cleaned the dust off. I got some of it from him as a gift,” said Romische, who has a private space museum in Germany.
The collector owns seven space suits and among them is the orange suit worn by Bruce Willis in his 1998 space thriller Armageddon. Romische said he paid €30,000 to acquire the suit.
And from where does he get the money to invest in his passion? Romische says he rents out his space equipment for studios and TV shows. “I am an educator too and I give lectures to students on space programmes.”
