Sultan Al Neyadi took the opportunity to thank the UAE’s leaders and describe their vision for greater goals in space….reports Asian Lite News
“It’s time to come home,” Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi said on the eve of his historic homecoming to the UAE, scheduled for today evening.
“From the start of the 5-year preparations for the mission to spending over 180 days in space, this has been the experience of a lifetime,” AlNeyadi posted on X sharing a video recalling the space experience. “After returning to Earth, it’s time to come home. I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow in our beloved UAE.”
He also took the opportunity to thank the UAE’s leaders and describe their vision for greater goals in space.
In the video, he highlighted the International Space Station (ISS) as the largest spacecraft in orbit where astronauts from various countries’ space agencies work together to conduct scientific experiments, Gulf News reported.
Sharing the “beautiful moments” spent communicating with scientists while doing such experiments, he described the fascinating experience of observing beating heart membranes under a microscope.
“We had beautiful moments while speaking with the scientists, telling them what we see. I vividly remember the moment when I first looked through a microscope at heart membranes while they were beating after being treated with a certain medicine,” AlNeyadi was quoted as saying.
AlNeyadi succeeded in achieving qualitative and historical achievements, which consolidated the UAE’s regional and global position as the first Arab country to complete the longest space mission in the history of the Arabs, which lasted for six months on the International Space Station (ISS), and included conducting pioneering scientific experiments that contribute to serving humanity and the scientific community.
AlNeyadi became the first Arab astronaut to complete a spacewalk mission outside the ISS, as part of the 69th mission last April, which lasted about 7 hours, to carry out several basic tasks such as maintenance, in addition to completing the preparatory series for installing a number of solar panels on the station.
This success consolidated the UAE’s global leadership in the space sector, as the country ranked 10th globally in spacewalking missions outside the ISS, which reflects the efforts of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) to continue space exploration. This historic achievement is also added to the record of the Arab world’s contributions to outer space exploration.