Emirati astronaut flies the flag after eight days in orbit on space station
NATION’S PRIDE
Emirati astronaut Hazza Al-Mansoori landed safely on Earth on Thursday after eight days in orbit on the International Space Station, and immediately wrapped himself in the UAE flag. Al-Mansoori, 35, touched down in the Kazakh steppes with US astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, and all three were placed on fold-out chairs for rest and preliminary medical checks. “The crew that returned to Earth is feeling well,” the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
Before the astronauts’ module undocked from the space station, Al-Mansoori posted a view of space taken from the station’s Cupola panoramic observatory module, and paid tribute to UAE founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan.
“With fear and pride, I am returning with Zayed’s ambition achieved, to bring back the golden era of Arab astronauts. But we are not done yet, and we will never be.” Earlier he wore a traditional Emirati kandura, treated crew members to his favorite snacks, took part in scientific experiments and published photos of the UAE and Makkah. Al-Mansoori’s mission has made him a hero in the UAE, where a huge crowd turned up at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai to watch the launch on Sept. 25.
The UAE has ambitious space plans. It launched its first locally made satellite, KhalifaSat, from Japan a year ago, and intends to launch a probe to Mars in 2020. “Congratulations to the people of the UAE for this historic achievement,” Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, said after Al-Mansoori landed. “Zayed’s sons will fulfil our ambition to reach Mars.”