I would love to see a UAE flag on the lunar surface: Neyadi
‘The idea of waking up every morning and having access to a window like the Cupola, where one can scan the entire world in 90 minutes, is amazing’
During a media briefing, Salem Humaid Al Marri, Director-general, MBRSC, said, “We are proud to talk about our second mission under the UAE Astronaut Programme and Sultan’s first mission to space. Today Sultan Al Neyadi is a very capable astronaut and he, along with his colleague Hazzaa Al Mansoori have a total of 5 years of training, including training on EVAS and operations aboard the ISS,” according to WAM.
“We have over 20 science experiments from UAE universities in the upcoming mission and a lot of outreach activities being done across the region,” Al Marri added.
On his part, Al Neyadi, said, “The idea of waking up every morning and having access to a window like the Cupola, where one can scan the entire world in 90 minutes, is amazing, and I believe it is literally out of this world.”
“The trip to space by Hazzaa Al Mansoori marked the UAE’S consistent presence in space. Our Prime Minister promised to continue these flights, and now we’re talking about the second mission to the International Space Station. This time we raised the bar to six months, and we now have two additional astronauts training with the class of ’23.
“I would also love to see a UAE flag on the lunar surface, carried on the shoulder of a UAE astronaut. UAE is doing an excellent job, and I believe that in the next ten years, we will be following international efforts to go to space and push the boundaries of exploration.”
Emirati astronaut Sultan al-neyadi said on Wednesday that he will not be required to fast during Ramadan while on his upcoming space mission, according to Agence France-presse.
The 41-year-old will become the first Arab astronaut to spend six months in space when he blasts off for the International Space Station (ISS) next month aboard a Spacex Falcon 9 rocket.
Neyadi, NASA’S Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg and Russia’s Andrey Fedyaev are scheduled to fly to the ISS on February 26 as members of Spacex Dragon Crew-6.
Asked at a press conference on Wednesday how he will observe the holy month of Ramadan,
Neyadi said his situation falls under an exception.
“I’m in... the definition of a traveller, and we can actually break fast,” Neyadi said. “It’s not compulsory.”
“Actually fasting is not compulsory if you’re... not feeling well,” he said.
“So in that regard, anything that can jeopardise the mission, or maybe put the crew members in a risk, we’re actually allowed to eat sufficient food.”
Neyadi will be the second national from the United Arab Emirates to voyage to space.
In September 2019, Hazzaa al-mansoori spent eight days on the ISS.
The NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonaut were also asked at the Johnson Space Centre on Wednesday whether any of the political tensions on Earth, over Ukraine for example, spilled over into space.
“I’ve been working and training with cosmonauts for over 20 years now and it’s always been amazing,” said NASA’S Bowen, a veteran of three space shutle missions.
“Once you get to space, it’s just one crew, one vehicle and we all have the same goal.”
Fedyaev pointed to the “very long history” of space cooperation between Russia and the United States.
“The life of people in space on the International Space Station is really seting a very good example for how people should be living on Earth,” the Russian cosmonaut said.
FIVE-DAY HANDOVER: NASA officials said they expect the members of Spacex Dragon Crew-6 to have a five-day handover with the four members of Dragon Crew-5, who have been on the ISS since October.
Also currently aboard the ISS are three astronauts whose return vehicle, a Soyuz crew capsule, was damaged by a strike from a tiny meteoroid in December.
Russia plans to send an empty spacecrat to the ISS on February 20 to bring home the trio – Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio.
Their Soyuz MS-22 crew capsule sprang a radiator coolant leak ater the meteoroid strike.