Final interview of UAE's astronauts to start on July 3

Dubai - It has been a grueling series of medical tests, psychological exams and interviews since January.

 The final interviews for the UAE's first Emirati astronaut corps selection are starting on July 3 and one of them will be heading to space early next year on a 10-day mission.
It has been a grueling series of medical tests, psychological exams and interviews since January for 4,000 candidates who dreamt of becoming astronauts. The remaining 39 will be taking part in their final interviews this week and four will be chosen soon as the country's first astronaut corps. One of the final four will head to the International Space Station onboard the Russian Soyouz MS-12 spacecraft in April.
Ahead of the final interviews, Salem Al Marri, assistant director-general of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), told Khaleej Times that the candidates come from different professions.
"I think if you are looking at the original numbers we announced previously, 60 per cent were engineers and scientists, mainly these numbers have stayed stable. We have a lot of engineers and scientists. We do also have a good number of pilots - civilian and military. We have people who come from a teaching background and medical background. These candidates have been with us for the past three months and since the 4,000 were announced, we have been assessing them continuously and the numbers are going down and down," he said.
"Whether they have been assessed from a medical or psychological perspective, they've handled the interviews and they're going through another interview as well. There's a lot of information we have built on each individual candidate. Then we start to tailor questions, we start getting concerns or get better clarifications just to see if this person is the right person to represent the UAE in space. We also check for someone who would be able to work very well in a group, with the rest of the astronauts and in confined and dangerous spaces. These are the type of persons who can work in that field."
The mission to the International Space Station will take off from Russia in April onboard Russia's Soyouz MS-12 spacecraft. Al Marri said that three astronauts will be part of the flight, including an American flight engineer, a Russian commander and an Emirati astronaut.
The names of four Emiratis who will form UAE's first astronaut corps will be announced after the final interviews are completed this month. After that the name of the astronaut who will jet off into space in April will be announced later this year.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com
 

• UAE