He has been on the International Space Station for exactly a week now.
The UAE’s first astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori will land back on the earth at 2.59pm (UAE time) on October 3, a top official has confirmed to Khaleej Times. He has been on the International Space Station for exactly a week now. He has done seven live video and radio sessions with the UAE public.
Landing preparations have already been initiated by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) as Salem Al Marri, head of the UAE Astronaut Programme, and Saeed Karmostaji, manager of the astronauts office at the MBRSC, have arrived in Kazakhstan to receive AlMansoori.
Speaking to KT from the Karaganda city, Al Marri said: “The landing is looking smooth. The weather is great and the timing has been fixed for 4.59pm (Kazakh time). We will head to Moscow for a week to 10 days and then he will return to the UAE.”
The 35-year-old former military fighter jet pilot will land in the city of Dzhezkazgan onboard the descent module of the Soyuz spacecraft. He will be flown via a helicopter to an airport in the Karaganda city and will then head to Moscow for post-mission health checks.
AlMansoori is returning on the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft along with Nasa astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin.
Landing preparations on the ISS will begin today evening, as the astronauts onboard prepare the cargo and carry out any remaining technical or mechanical work on their return vehicle.
The undocking from the ISS will take place at 11.34am (Kazakh time).
At the landing site, a team of medics will be present to guide the astronauts and cosmonaut out of the spacecraft and into the helicopter. Due to the time spent in micro-gravity, they will be unable to walk and turn properly and lose vision focus as their brains readapt to earth.
Al Marri added: “Hazzaa is in great health and this mission is a success so far. We’ve been communicating every day and he’s been carrying out several live sessions for the public, important experiments and daily tasks. He’s been very excited throughout this mission and has been doing his experiments on time. He has a very tight schedule onboard.”
