100 days left for Soyuz MS-15 to make historic arrival at ISS
Approximately 100 days are left for the Soyuz MS-15 to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, Emirati astronauts Hazzaa Al Mansoori and Sultan Al Neyadi are undergoing a series of quality training on various aspects of the mission to ISS, along with the prime and backup flight crews.
Mansoori is training with the mission’s main crew, alongside Roscosmos commander Oleg Skripochka, and the American Nasa astronaut, Jessica Meir.
Neyadi, the UAE’S backup astronaut, is undergoing similar training with the backup team, which is also composed of three astronauts, and includes Sergei Nikolaevich, the Russian flight commander of Roscosmos, and Thomas Henry, the American astronaut of Nasa.
Mansoori and Neyadi will take part in the training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia, for the first time with the crew of the mission.
The training on the Soyuz MS will specifically be on the take-off and landing and how to deal with emergency situations.
The astronauts will undergo a range of medical tests, prior to the mission, to measure their physical and mental fitness levels, as per global standards.
The astronauts will also train on surviving in a water environment next month.
Mansoori and Neyadi are to travel to the European Astronaut Centre, which is overseen by the European Space Agency (ESA) in Cologne, Germany, and then to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, for more training.
Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, Director General of MBRSC, said: “Day after day, we get closer to achieving the vision of our wise leadership to make the UAE a leader in the space industry, with the first Emirati astronaut travelling into space to conduct scientific experiments that benefit humanity. Less than 100 days are left to travel to ISS. Youth in the UAE and the entire Arab region are looking forward to this historical event. We strive to see the UAE Astronaut Programme achieve its objective of preparing generations of Emiratis who will contribute to enhancing the country’s position in space science and research to serve the ambitious aspirations aimed at building a national knowledge-based economy.”
“We are proud of the level that the astronauts have reached due to their huge effort and the support provided to them. They gained a lot of experience through the intensive training that they underwent so far, which qualifies them to carry out the task perfectly. Nevertheless, there is additional training with our partners in Russia, Europe and USA, to prepare them well before Sept.25,” said Salem Al Marri, Assistant Director General for Science and Technology Sector, Head of UAE Astronaut Programme.
Mansoori will fly for an eight-day space mission to ISS aboard a Soyuz-ms 15 spacecraft on Sept.25, 2019 and return to Earth aboard a Soyuz-ms 12.
The UAE Astronaut Programme is funded by the ICT fund of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA).
Launched in 2007, this fund, the first of its kind in the Arab world, aims to support research and development within the ICT sector in the UAE and help it grow into a nationally significant industry with a leading place in the world.
Earlier, it is reported that the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) will launch the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) Science Week during the first week of July, at the Emirates Towers Youth Hub. Science Week is an EMM initiative, the first Arab space exploration mission to an outer planet.
EMM Science Week will include six workshops by MBRSC’S Science Team, and will highlight the scientific aspect of the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) – Hope Probe, and how the probe will collect data to answer key scientific questions about the Red Planet.
The week includes interactive workshops to explain the tools used by scientists in the study of Mars remotely, including an interactive platform on the Internet containing data called “The Mars Climate Model.”
The workshops will include discussions and talks with EMM’S Science Team, and interactive activities that will explain how the data from the probe will be visualised and interpreted.
‘Day after day, we get closer to achieving the vision of our wise leadership to make the UAE a leader in the space industry, with the first Emirati astronaut travelling into space to conduct scientific experiments that benefit humanity,’ said an official.