STAY GROUNDED WHILE YOU REACH FOR THE STARS, UAE’S CADETS TOLD
▶ Astronauts Maj Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi share wisdom, writes Sarwat Nasir
The UAE’s first astronauts are advising the country’s new cadets to be humble and patient, because fame, intense training, maintaining a work-life balance and other challenges await them.
Maj Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati in space, and reserve astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi are familiar with the joys and hardships that lie ahead for the candidates.
Speaking to The National, they urged recruits Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla to prepare themselves.
But they are confident the two are up to the daunting task.
“I’m happy Nora and Mohammed have joined us,” Maj Al Mansouri says.
“We are four astronauts now, and that’s another sign that we will have more missions to space in future and we’ll be ready for anything.”
Maj Al Mansouri and Mr Al Neyadi are training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
Their new colleagues will join them at the end of this year for a 30-month training period.
The first two astronauts know the challenges of becoming space-ready, having been trained by Russia for a year.
Maj Al Mansouri has one space mission to his name, when he spent eight days on the International Space Station.
His place in the history books as the first Emirati in space meant being continually in the spotlight.
Ms Al Matrooshi’s place as the first Arab female astronaut has already brought her a great deal of attention.
“It’s a privilege to be an astronaut, but there are lot of things that come with it, for example being famous,” Maj Al Mansouri says.
“You have to speak to media, and there is a lot of attention on you. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre is great in helping them prepare for that.”
He has spoken of being unable to go to parks and other public places without being surrounded by admirers.
Nasa’s Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin struggled with fame and depression, while crewmates Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the
Moon, and Michael Collins turned their backs on the spotlight to lead regular lives.
Maj Al Mansouri says the new recruits were aware of all the attention coming their way and he advised them to be humble.
“I told them, ‘You are famous now and you’ll encounter a lot of different situations in your life that you’ll have to handle wisely’,” he says.
“But, most importantly, remember that you have to be humble, because you might think you’re above everyone now that you’re an astronaut, but you have to stay humble and inspire the next generation.”
The new astronauts were also advised to be patient for a space mission.
Mr Al Neyadi, who was Maj Al Mansouri’s back-up for the mission to the ISS, says there could be years of training before an astronaut gets to travel into orbit.
“I told them that it’s going to be a real challenge,” he says.
“I think the most important thing is to be patient and to be able to handle the pressure. It’s not a short trip – it could be years of training that would prepare them for long-duration missions. The most important thing is patience and persistence.”
The new recruits are unlikely to go into space within the next three years.
They are being trained in the UAE until the end of this year, and this will be followed by their training at Nasa.
Only the astronaut who is selected for the next step would then undertake mission-specific training.
However, it could be that two astronauts are selected if the UAE secures two seats on a flight.
Maj Al Mansouri says the job is more of a marathon than a sprint.
“You will start your training for a couple of years, maybe up to five years or six years – no one knows,” he says.
“But, eventually, you will be assigned to a mission. So, you have to learn how to handle pressure and gain new skills.”
Maj Al Mansouri also says the new astronauts could learn from his and Mr Al Neyadi’s experience.
“In the beginning, we didn’t have any astronauts in the country to give us advice, so they are lucky to have us because we’ve learnt a lot through our journey,” he says.
“We’ve given them good advice on the variety of skills you need for the training, skills that you have to master mentally, physically and emotionally – you would be put under a lot of pressure.”
Maj Al Mansouri spoke about spending up to seven hours in the world’s largest pool for spacewalk training while wearing a 130-kilogram extravehicular activities suit and performing tasks under water.
He says they must be sharp and ready for any possibility.
We are four astronauts now and that ’s another sign that we will have more missions to space in future
MAJ HAZZA AL MANSOURI
First Emirati in space