SpaceX Releases Official Portrait of UAE Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi
- Publish date: Sunday، 05 February 2023
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SpaceX has released an official portrait of Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi in the pressure suit he will be wearing during his journey to the International Space Station (ISS).
"SpaceX Crew-6 official portraits are released!!," Al Neyadi wrote in an Instagram post.
The shots were taken during a training session in January at SpaceX's headquarters in Hawthorne, California.
The UAE's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) previously said that the mission to the ISS is scheduled to launch on February 26th.
The crew will head to the space station on SpaceX's Dragon capsule ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Al Neyadi will hold the record of the Arab astronaut with the longest time aboard the station, as he and his three crew mates will be flying for about 22 hours to reach the orbiting science laboratory.
The mission will place the UAE on the list of only 11 countries that have sent their astronauts on long-term missions in space.
In 2019, fellow Emirati Hazza Al Mansouri became the first person from the UAE in space and the first Arab to board the ISS, where he spent eight days conducting experiments and filming the first tour of the ISS in Arabic.
In recent years, the UAE has taken the lead in its space ambitions, training several astronauts and developing the Hope probe, which is currently researching the atmosphere of Mars.