Shine on, harvest moon

While the world stood gaping in front of television screens as the last of the NASA Apollo rockets blasted off for the moon, one young Bahraini boy had a ringside seat just three miles away from the historic event.

Now as commemorations get underway for the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's 'one small step' on the moon, the memories have come flooding back to Dr Tarik Abdul-Ghaffar who attended the launch of Apollo 17 as a schoolboy four years later.

Dr Tarik, now 53, said: "When the Apollo took off it was like sunshine - there was a big flash of fire.

"We watched this from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station near Florida which is now renamed as Cape Kennedy. There was a huge lake between us and the rocket.

"It was late by around 30 minutes waiting for the launch. We couldn't stay for the return though, it splashed down as we had to leave and we saw it on TV, a big screen, new for me."

Dr Tarik was one of 80 students from around the world, and one of just three from the GCC, who were invited by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to witness the launch of the Apollo 17 in December 1972.

He became Bahrain's first citizen to stand shoulder to shoulder with the first person who set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong.

He said: "I had heard his speech on TV when he first made it and I remembered him clearly saying 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind'.

"And when I first met him, I thought 'what a big giant leap for me'!

"Mr Armstrong was outgoing, social, talkative and very friendly. I didn't get the chance to talk to him though as there were 80 of us!

"I shook hands and I was shrewd enough to stand beside him, in all the photographs I would be standing next to him. My size was very small it really helped, I could squeeze myself into each frame."

BAHRAIN'S Dr Tarik Abdul-Ghaffar attended the launch of Apollo 17 as a schoolboy while the world stood gaping in front of television screens as the last of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Apollo rockets blasted off for the moon.

Dr Tarik was one of 80 students from around the world, and one of just three from the GCC, who were invited by NASA to witness the launch of the Apollo 17 in December 1972.

During the 22-day trip to the US, as well as Neil Armstrong, the children met all three astronauts of the Apollo 17, toured the country, made friends and learned a lot about different cultures, sciences and places.

Dr Tarik remembers the day, at the age of 16, when he was in class at the Al Hidaya Secondary School in Muharraq and a man came knocking on his classroom window saying the headmaster wanted to see him.

He said: "I went to the office and he said, 'Tarik, how are you? Please have a seat.'

"Then he said, 'you are chosen among all Bahraini students to represent your country. NASA will take you to an all-expenses paid trip to America to witness the launch of the Apollo 17, the last Apollo to the moon.'

"I stood gaping as he said 'go to your father now and take his consent and bring him here to sign some papers'.

"I took one of my friend's bicycles and went to my father and said 'Dad, the headmaster wants to talk to you'.

"His first response was 'Why are you out of school?' And then I explained that the headmaster wanted his consent to send me to America and he was just shocked."

Dr Tarik's selection for the historic visit was due to his excellent grades in school. He held the top spot for academics on the island and specifically for science which was how he was chosen to represent his country.

Before he set off on the journey Bapco offered to sponsor suits for the teenager, who, in those days, used to typically only wear Arabian thobes.

He said: "It was my first suit and I still have it, I treasure it."

The invitation was a life changing one for Dr Tarik. Prior to the trip, the CEO of Bapco and the American Ambassador at the time threw a grand banquet and on December 2, he boarded the BOAC flight that would take him to America.

He said: "I was confused... America? I had never left Bahrain!

"I went first to London. The Ambassador had assigned someone from the embassy to welcome me as I came off the airplane, imagine!

"We had a car waiting for us. I still remember the driver, Tom, completely British and he had a nice little cap. They took me all around London as I had six hours before I caught the next flight.

"It was beautiful, green and fresh and clean. It wasn't too much of a cultural shock as I had seen images on TV."

Once in Washington, he joined his colleagues and friends for the next 22 days.

He said: "My roommate was an Indian boy. The Saudi Arabian candidate Sami Baroom, CEO of Saffola Oil, was also there on the trip and it was amazing as months later when I went to college in Lebanon, Sami was in my class too. Such a small world."

All the 80 students, once gathered in Washington DC, were taken to a big dormitory which had been vacated to accommodate them.

He said: "It was very well planned with around 20 staff including experts, supervisors and translators.

"I was so hungry. When I woke up I asked for food to this big lady who replied 'breakfast honey? It's lunch time!'"

The children were then taken out on a tour to visit the various states where each part of Apollo 17 was made

He said: "We first went to the White House to meet former American president Nixon but he apologised as he was engaged in something else.

"Then we went to Florida to Disneyland which had just been opened. Then Tennessee, Houston, California, New York, it was a big event.

"In those days Bahrain was just on the brink of expanding, the sea was being reclaimed and we had no high rise building at all. I was shocked seeing all these high rise buildings in America.

"When I came back I was chosen as a valedictorian to give a speech and I met the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, who shook hands with me stroked my head."

On his return to Bahrain Dr Tarik was awarded a piece of moon rock which was donated to Bahrain National Museum as a sign of the kingdom's role in the historic. It is still on show today, but there is no mention of the teenager's incredible journey.

After school, Dr Tarik was offered a scholarship to study medicine at the American University of Beirut.

He said: "We were there for two years but, unluckily for me, the civil war broke out and schooling stopped and I came back in 1975."

He then went to study in Texas and, due to lack of places, changed his major to biology and physiology.

He was offered a scholarship to attend a medical college in India making him the first Bahraini to be offered a scholarship by an Indian university.

But then he was doing his masters degree in the US and he was confused but eventually continued to study in America.

He later completed a PhD in Science in Physiology going on to teach at the Arabian Gulf University Medical College.

He was also awarded the Fulbright scholarship to Harvard's Medical School in 2000 for his research on gastrointestinal diseases.

Last November, Dr Tarik, from Busaiteen, decided to combine corporate responsibilities with science and joined Asry as assistant to the chief executive.