Longest Arab space mission set to take off on the Dragon
Sultan Al Neyadi is already a national hero in the United Arab Emirates. He has earned the nickname 'Sultan of Space' even before lift-off.
FollowEmirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi is set to embark on a six-month mission to the International Space Station, where he will conduct the longest Arab space mission in history. The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carried astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and his Crew-6 colleagues to the International Space Station.
Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi's journey to the International Space Station to carry out the longest Arab space mission in history will fulfil the ambitions of the Late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to take the UAE from the desert to space.
Astronaut Al Neyadi, the Crew 6 mission specialist, has a PhD in Information technology. He hails from Al Ain in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
In a pre-flight interview, Al Neyadi said he was inspired by cartoon series that talked about space missions and similar adventures. Growing up, he read about inspiring people like scientists, inventors and people who changed lives for the better. But the individual who inspired him the most was his father, who was involved in ground training at the aviation academy.
Calling space an inescapable obsession, Al Neyadi recalled how his computer wallpapers were photos taken by the Hubble space telescope of beautiful distant nebulas or galaxies and how his favourite books and movies were always about space.
Al Neyadi is already a national hero. He has earned the nickname 'Sultan of Space' even before lift-off. Landmarks like the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall lit up to celebrate Al Neyadi’s space mission.
Dubai Crown Prince and Executive Council of Dubai Chairman, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, took to Twitter on Sunday to say: 'Inspired by the late Sheikh Zayed’s vision, Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is set to embark on a 6-month mission to the International Space Station. We are proud of Sultan, MBRSC and everyone who aspires to achieve the best for the UAE.'
Besides maintenance work on the orbiting station, Al Neyadi will be conducting at least 20 of the 200 science experiments and technology demonstrations scheduled to be carried out during the six-month mission to the space station. On the SpaceX Dragon 'Endeavour' spacecraft, he will be accompanied by NASA astronauts Warren Woody Hoburg (pilot) and Stephen Bowen (spacecraft commander), and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (mission specialist).
Interestingly, this is the second time the UAE is sending an astronaut to space. Emirati astronaut Hazzaa Al Mansoori was the first to spend eight days on the ISS in the 2019 mission. When astronaut Al Neyadi completes his mission, the UAE will be ranked 11th globally among nations that have successfully achieved a long-duration mission at the International Space Station. It will also be the first Arab nation to achieve the milestone.
