First Arab on ISS returns

NUR-SULTAN: An Emirati who made history as the first Arab to reach the International Space Station returned to Earth yesterday following an eightday mission that sparked euphoria in his homeland.

Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates touched down in the Kazakh Steppe at around 11am GMT (6pm Thai time) along with Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, who both survived a failed launch to the ISS last year.

Mr Hague and Mr Ovchinin were completing a 203-day mission aboard the orbital lab while Mr Mansoori’s two crewmates from the Sept 25 launch — Russia’s Oleg Skripochka and Nasa’s Jessica Meir — were staying on as part of a six-member crew.

Although Mr Mansoori’s mission was a short one, it has still been the source of great pride in the UAE, a newcomer to the world of space with ambitions to send an unmanned probe to orbit Mars by 2021.

Mr Mansoori’s blast-off from the launchpad that sent Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space was roared on by a large crowd at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, where he has been feted as a hero.

Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, lit up at the moment of the launch. The 35-year-old former military pilot’s whirlwind mission has had wall-to-wall coverage in Arab media.

As part of its space plans, the UAE has also announced its aim to become the first Arab country to send an unmanned probe to orbit Mars by 2021, naming it “Hope”.