Hazzaa Al Mansoori will make history, as he will be the 1stEmirati to reach space.
Emirati prime astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori will represent the UAE in space as the 19thvisiting country to the ISS and its 240thvisitor. He will not only be the first Emirati but also the first Arab on the giant floating laboratory.
He will head to space with Russian commander Oleg Skripochka and Nasa astronaut Jessica Meir on board the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft. Their launch will take place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Reserve Emirati astronaut Sultan al Neyadi will also be at Baikonur with Russian commander Sergey Ryzhikov and Thomas Marshburn from Nasa.
The ISS is a giant floating laboratory orbiting the Earth at an altitude of around 400km. It revolves around the Earth every 90 minutes or 16 times a day at a speed of 17,000miles per hour, giving its inhabitants 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets. This engineering marvel allows for humans to live and work in space, conducting more than 250 researches every year that help improve life on Earth.
The prime crew is Hazzaa AlMansoori, 35, worked as a military pilot flying the F-16 jet before being chosen as to become the UAE’s first astronaut from 4,022 candidates. The father of four hails from Abu Dhabi and completed his Bachelor of Aviation Science degree from Khalifa bin Zayed Air College in 2004.
Sultan Al Neyadi, 38, is the back-up astronaut who will take over should the need arise. He worked as a military network security engineer in the UAE Armed Forces before becoming an astronaut. He is married with four kids.
Going to space is important as it allows to conduct experiments that cannot be done on earth. Also a lot of technology that we use today is because of the researches done in space.
Hazzaa will conduct 16 scientific experiments particularly on the effect of microgravity on the human body. He will also conduct Earth observation and imaging and hold tour the Arab world live inside the ISS in Arabic. A traditional Emirati night is also on schedule where he will share Emirati dishes with his space colleagues.
He will be taking with him a copy of the Quran, a copy of the ‘Qissati’ of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, rocket that is on standby on the ISS a 100% silk UAE flag, 30 seeds of Al Ghaf trees, materials for the scientific research, Emirati food, his personal belongings like picture of his family and other personal items and a photo of Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan with the Apollo 17 Team.
His trip back to earth will be on A Soyuz MS- 12 will be his ride home on October 3. Most astronauts have descried their trip back to earth as the “ultimate roller-coaster ride.”
One astronaut once described how he felt during re-entry as “as feeling like being in a head-on collision with a truck while on a small car”.
We can support Hazzaa journey by watching it on Nasa official livestream . He will also conduct four live sessions called space-to-Earth calls where students will get a chance to ask a question live. You can post your question on Twitter with the hashtag #AskHazzaa.
We wish you all the Luck Hazzaa Al Mansoori!
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