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UAE to Send An Emirati Astronaut For 180-Day Space Mission

  • Publish date: Thursday، 05 May 2022
UAE to Send An Emirati Astronaut For 180-Day Space Mission

The United Arab Emirates has announced the launch of a new space mission to the International Space Station that will last for six months.

The planned space mission to the ISS will include an Emirati astronaut and his counterparts from the US. The team will be conducting experiments and managing the operations of the station.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, said: "We launched the " UAE Astronaut programme" more than five years ago. The UAE sent the first Arab astronaut on a historic trip to the International Space Station... Today we announce a new cooperation between the UAE and the United States of America to send an Emirati astronaut on the first long-term mission aboard the International Space Station".

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum added: "Signing the agreement to send the first Arab astronaut in a long-term mission of 180 days to the International Space Station is new milestone for the UAE space sector. The UAE will be among 11 countries in the world that carried out long-term space missions."

On board the ISS, the Emirati astronaut will conduct a series of complex and advanced experiments, and in depth public outreach and education programme requiring a longer stay of 180 days until September 2023. The results of his mission are expected to have significant impacts that will benefit the global space community. The results of his mission are expected to have significant impacts that will benefit the global space community.

So far, only few countries have been able to send astronauts on long-term missions to the ISS, and the UAE is the latest country to join this elite list.

Once the mission is completed, the Emirates will take the distinctive honor of being the first Arab country to undertake a mission involving a prolonged stay at the space station.

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