UAE announces date for first Arab long-duration astronaut mission
UAE will become only the 11th country to carry out a long-duration astronaut mission
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has announced a new date and time for the first Arab long-duration astronaut mission. The mission will take place at 10.45am on February 27 (UAE time).
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, atop a Falcon 9 rocket, that will carry Sultan Al Neyadi, along with two NASA astronauts – mission commander Stephen Bowen and Pilot Warren Hoburg – and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev to the ISS will be launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
There will be three launch opportunities in a row that would satisfy the requirements to dock at the ISS, MBRSC noted.
The UAE will become only the 11th country to carry out a long-duration astronaut mission. During the six-month mission, Al Neyadi will conduct scientific experiments and research alongside an outreach and education programme which will see him interacting with students in the UAE.
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This will be the first spaceflight for AlNeyadi, Hoburg and Fedyaev; and the fourth mission to space for Bowen.
The upcoming mission will make the UAE only the eleventh country in the world to send its astronauts on a long-term mission to space.