Emirati astronaut hunt enters final frontier

The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre has announced that nine candidates qualified for the final phase to find the first Emirati astronaut, who will be sent to the International Space Station in April.

The candidates, from a shortlist of 18, will now undergo assessment by specialists from Roscosmos in Russia.

Yousuf Al Shaibani, director general of the MBRSC, said: “The last phase of the evaluation process for the nine candidates will be a major step in choosing the best candidate to represent the UAE in space ... This supports the objectives of the UAE Astronauts Programme, as well as the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, to build national capabilities in space science and take this sector to strategic levels.”

After the assessment in Russia, the UAE will choose the first corps of four Emirati astronauts.

The assessment will be conducted by experts from the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and will include intensive medical and physical tests to ensure candidates are ready for special space-related training.

Recently, the UAE and Russia signed an agreement to send the first Emirati astronaut to participate in scientific research on a Russian space mission to the ISS.

Two astronauts from the Emirati corps will be trained in Russia, one as primary astronaut and the other as backup.

One of the pair will be joining a Russian commander and an American astronaut on the Soyuz MS-12 space flight, which will take off for the ISS in April.

The others will receive extensive training for future long-duration space missions.