Hazza Al Mansouri gets ready to make history
Hazza Al Mansouri will be the first Emirati to go to space, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre announced on Friday.
Mr Al Mansouri, 34, was selected as the prime astronaut and Sultan Al Neyadi as the backup astronaut for the International Space Station mission this year.
The pair, who were selected from thousands of applicants to become the UAE’s first astronaut in space, are in training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia, in preparation for the mission set for September 25.
Prior to applying for the programme, Mr Al Mansouri was a pilot and flew the UAE air force’s F-16 Block 60, one of the most advanced aircraft in the skies.
“Mr Al Mansouri is undergoing his training with the prime team while Mr Al Neyadi is undergoing his training with the backup team. Each team consists of three astronauts,” said Salem Al Marri, head of the UAE Astronaut Programme.
In five months, Mr Al Mansouri will set off for an eight-day space mission to ISS aboard a Soyuz-MS 15 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and return to Earth aboard a Soyuz-MS 12 in what will be a milestone for the UAE and the Arab world.
Once Mr Al Mansouri reaches the ISS, he will present a tour of the station in Arabic. He will be conducting Earth observation, interacting with ground stations, sharing information, as well as documenting the daily lives of astronauts at the station, according to state news agency Wam.
Mr Al Mansouri will also study the effect of microgravity compared with gravity on Earth. The mission will include 15 experiments selected based on MBRSC’s “Science in Space” competition, featuring schools in the UAE.
The effects of space travel on the body will also be studied before and after Mr Al Mansouri’s journey. It will be the first time such research is carried out on an astronaut from the Arab region. Mr Al Mansouri will also be working on continuing scientific missions at ISS laboratories.
Yousuf Al Shaibani, director general of MBRSC, said Friday’s announcement is a major step towards achieving the objectives of the UAE Astronaut Programme, which aims to train and prepare a team of Emiratis to be sent to space for various scientific missions.
The programme was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, and Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, in 2017.