UAE's 1st Astronaut To Conduct 16 Experiments On International Space Station - Official

Hazza Al Mansoori, the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates, who is set to depart for the International Space Station (ISS) on September 25, will carry out 16 experiments in cooperation with several international space agencies, the director general of Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRCS), Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, told reporters at a press conference on Monday

DUBAI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th August, 2019) Hazza Al Mansoori, the first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates, who is set to depart for the International Space Station (ISS) on September 25, will carry out 16 experiments in cooperation with several international space agencies, the director general of Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRCS), Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, told reporters at a press conference on Monday.

"The experiments that Al Mansoori will be carrying out during his stay at the ISS are divided into three parts: the first includes scientific experiments in cooperation with international partners, including NASA, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Roscosmos. The second part of the experiments consists of simple scientific experiments proposed by Emirati schoolchildren as part of the Science in Space initiative, and the third part includes joint educational initiatives with ESA and JAXA. For the first time, an Emirati Arab astronaut will take part in scientific missions in outer space," Al Shaibani said.

The MBRCS director general specified that out of 16 experiments, six will be associated with the effects of weightlessness.

Al Mansoori will also perform experiments aboard the ISS to study Brain-DTI (Diffusion Tensor Imaging), motor control, time perception in microgravity with the help of a Virtual Reality headset, Fluidics (fluid dynamics in space) and DNA methylation aging. He will also become the first astronaut whose bodily reaction to zero gravity will be studied before and after the flight, according to Al Shaibani, as cited by UAE-based WAM News Agency.

In the summer of 2018, Russia and the United Arab Emirates signed an agreement to put the first UAE astronaut on the ISS. Al Mansoori will depart for the space station on September 25 as part of the Soyuz MS-15 manned flight together with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. The Emirati astronaut is expected to spend a total of eight days on board the orbital outpost and return to the Earth on October 3.