Abu Dhabi: United Arab Emirates (UAE’s) astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, has once again etched his name into the history books by becoming the first Arab astronaut to walk in space on Friday.
Al Neyadi exited the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday at 5.41 pm UAE time, along with NASA colleague Stephen Bowen, to begin a six-and-a-half-hour maintenance mission.
“Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi egresses the International Space Station (ISS) starting the first Arab spacewalk in history,” Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre (MBRSC) tweeted.
Al Neyadi and Bowen will perform several missions during their time outside the International Space Station.
These include retrieving and relocating foot restraints that astronauts can use for future spacewalks, preparing a portion of the station for future solar array installation and dismounting and retrieving a piece of communications hardware.
While spacesuits – officially known as Extravehicular Mobility Units – weigh 145 kg, astronauts cannot feel that much weight in space.
Before exiting space, Al Neyadi tweeted, “Counting down the hours until we pass through the ISS airlock into space. Wearing the spacesuit and proudly bearing the UAE flag on my arm, I will soon be undertaking the Arab world’s first spacewalk. Wish us luck!.”
Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi made history on March 2 by becoming the first Arab to join a long-term space mission that will last six months as part of SpaceX’s crew.
The mission is a historic landmark for the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavor, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, carried the Emirati astronaut along with two NASA astronauts, Mission Commander Stephen Bowen, Pilot Warren Hoburg, and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.
