Blast-off for first UAE astronaut
Hazza Al-Mansoori soared skywards from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday to become the UAE’s first astronaut and the first Arab on the International Space Station.
With Al-Mansoori, 35, aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft were Jessica Meir from the US and veteran Russian commander Oleg Skripochka. The team at the RKA Mission Control Center in Korolyov, near Moscow, monitored the blast-off just before 5 p.m. Saudi time and applauded as the spacecraft passed through its crucial phases.
“Everything continues to go smoothly for this ride,” a commentator on NASA television said seven minutes after the launch. Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said the spacecraft had successfully reached orbit, and mission control checked its trajectory until it docked with the space station about six hours after takeoff.
“I’m filled with this indescribable feeling of glory and awe. Today I carry the dreams and ambition of my country to a whole new dimension,” Al-Mansoori, a former fighter pilot, said before the launch.
As he boarded the spacecraft he gave the three-fingered “Dubai” hand signal made popular by the emirate’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.
Russian Orthodox priests blessed the spacecraft ahead of the launch, in a traditional prayer service often held before Russian rocket launches.
The UAE’s first astronaut is part of the country’s ambitious space program, and he is the Arab world’s third man in space. The first, Prince Sultan bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, flew on NASA’s Discovery space shuttle in 1985. Two years later, Syrian air force pilot Muhammed Faris spent a week aboard the Soviet Union’s Mir space station.
Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan said he was proud to see Al-Mansoori blast off. “This event strengthens our confidence in our youth who will take our nation to new heights, and reinforces our ambitions for the future. We pray for Hazza’s success and his safe return,” he said.
In Dubai, a crowd gathered at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre to watch the launch, erupting in cheers, waving UAE flags and calling Al-Mansoori a national hero. The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, lit up at the moment of blast-off with Al-Mansoori’s photo and an image of the rocket.
The UAE astronaut will spend eight days on the space station conducting experiments and scientific research. He said he would take Emirati food with him to share with the crew. Al-Mansoori will return to Earth with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin on Oct. 3. Skripochka and Meir will remain on the space station until the spring of 2020.
Skripochka, first-time flyer Meir and AlMansoori will join a six-member crew on the space station, which for a brief period will be home to nine astronauts.
At a pre-flight conference, Meir, 42, said the crew communicated by using “Runglish” — a mixture of Russian and English. “We still need to work on our Arabic,” she joked.
As part of its space plans, the UAE also aims to become the first Arab country to send an unmanned probe to orbit Mars by 2021, naming it Hope.
The International Space Station has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000kph since 1998.