Students to Hazzaa: How do you eat and sleep in space? |
UAE’S FIRST ASTRONAUT ANSWERS SEVEN STUDENTS’ QUESTIONS IN LIVE RADIO CALL BETWEEN MBRSC AND ISS
UAE school students asked Emirati astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansoori how he eats and sleeps in space, among other questions, during a live radio call between Dubai’s Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and the International Space Station (ISS) yesterday.
Al Mansoori became the UAE’s first astronaut after lifting off from Kazakhstan last Wednesday for the ISS in Earth’s orbit. On Friday, he held a video conference with His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, as well as UAE students at MBRSC.
During the Saturday call, which lasted around 10 minutes, seven Emirati students managed to ask Al Mansoori a variety of questions.
The eighth student, who had asked about the astronaut’s feelings before the launch, did not receive a response as the call ended, despite several attempts to get through again.
When asked about his daily routine, Al Mansoori said there is a timetable and tasks for each “day” – ISS goes through 16 sunrises and sunsets in a day’s worth of time on Earth. After breakfast, everyone on ISS goes about their responsibilities for the day.
He assured another student there was plenty of food on board, which is also sent up from Earth periodically. There is also medicine for all kinds of illness, although the ISS is “disease free”, the UAE astronaut told a third student.
Needs more salt
When asked about space food, Al Mansoori said the meals could use more salt, pepper and sugar to his liking. He also pointed out that drinking liquids in the microgravity of space is less straightforward and the beverages don’t go down as quickly as on Earth.
Al Mansoori said he hardly gets any spare time but when he does, he likes to take in the outof-this-world views of the Earth, especially the beauty of the UAE when the ISS passes over it.
He also loves floating about the ISS and sleeping in space. Attending the event were students, families and officials. Anuradha Nair, a grade 11 student of The Indian High School, Dubai, said the Q&A shed light on many of her queries about living in space.
“I liked the event. Everyone at our school is following Hazzaa and many of us are attending these interactive sessions, which are happening for the