Agencies-Gaza post
UAE selects the first Arab astronaut to undertake a 6-month mission to the space station
The UAE selected Sultan Al-Neyadi to become the first Arab astronaut to participate in a six-month mission to the International Space Station, the Dubai Media Office reported Monday.
Al-Neyadi, selected from a pool of over 4,000 candidates to become one of the country’s top two astronauts in 2018, will begin his mission in 2023.
The firm ranks the UAE as the 11th country to send a long-term mission into space, according to the Dubai Media Office statement.
Congratulating Al-Neyadi, the president of the UAE, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, said: “This historic milestone builds on the solid foundations of the burgeoning space program of the United Arab Emirates.”
UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum said Al-Neyadi was an example of a youth “who raised our aspirations to heaven where the UAE deserves to be”.
Al-Neyadi will be the second Emirati astronaut to fly into space after Hazza Al-Mansouri spent eight days on the International Space Station in 2019 when he launched into space on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Al-Neyadi will be part of the SpaceX Crew-6 mission scheduled for launch in the first half of 2023 from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
