UAE Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi And Crew Due To Arrive At ISS

The Crew-6 is expected to dock at the International Space Station (ISS) at 10:17 a.m. UAE time today, March 3, following a 24-hour journey from the Earth. The Falcon 9 rocket carrying Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and his crew lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre Thursday morning following a last-minute postponement on Monday due to ignition issues.

In his first message broadcast from space, Al Neyadi expressed his gratitude to everyone who made the space mission launch possible. "Thank God, we made it to space. The launch was incredible," he said.

"I would like to say thanks to everybody, my parents, my family, our leadership, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre for their trust and everyone who trained us got us ready for this launch," he added.

"The launch was incredible. And lastly, thanks to NASA and SpaceX. Go Dragon and go SpaceX," he continued.

Al Neyadi and his crew will stay on the ISS for six months to conduct more than 200 experiments and scientific demonstrations, making his space mission the UAE's first long-duration space mission in history. Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati astronaut to travel into space in 2019, stayed on the ISS for eight days.

In a statement following the successful launch, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed commended Al Neyadi and congratulated him on his achievement. "I join the nation in congratulating Sultan Al Neyadi as he begins his pioneering mission aboard the International Space Station. His inspiring achievement is a source of great pride to the UAE and another milestone in the journey of our nation and the ambitions of our people," he said.

Meanwhile, the communications engineer revealed shortly after the Dragon capsule blasted off Thursday that he had brought an astronaut plush toy with him to indicate zero-gravity inside the spacecraft. "Allow me to introduce you to the fifth crew member. His name is Suhail," Al Neyadi said.

"This is the second flight for Suhail because it flew with Hazza Al Mansouri in 2019. Many people think Suhail is an alien but to me, he is from Earth, in a spacesuit—with high ambitions," he added.

Suhail was the same toy Al Mansouri flew with during his 2019 space mission to signal that he and his crew have already reached the weightless part of space.