When will UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi come home from space?

UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi, the Arab world’s first long-term resident of the International Space Station (ISS) is set to return home by end of August, after spending 4,000 hours doing experiments and maintenance work aboard the orbiting space laboratory.

AlNeyadi, the first Arab astronaut who completed a historic spacewalk outside the ISS, has so far conducted around 220 experiments and scientific studies in collaboration with UAE universities and international space agencies on how microgravity affects the human body.

He has also done various maintenance work at different locations on the ISS and conducted several live interactions with youth and students to share valuable insights into life in space and the science associated with the UAE space mission.

When is AlNeyadi arriving?

There is no specific date yet as to when AlNeyadi and his Crew-6 Mission colleagues — Nasa astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev — will return to Earth. But based on the launch date of the next Nasa crewed mission, they will come home before this month ends.

Nasa (National Aeronautics and Space Administration ) and SpaceX announced on Tuesday that they are targeting August 21 for the launch of Nasa’s SpaceX Crew-7 Mission to the ISS. The target date is in coordination with ongoing activities aboard the ISS, including operations with other crew and cargo spacecraft. If needed, a backup launch opportunity is available on August 25.

Handover first

AlNeyadi and the rest of Crew-6, however, will not immediately return home after the arrival of Crew-7 as they have to finish first all handover protocols after the arrival of Crew-7 members: Nasa astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.

After docking, Crew-7 will be welcomed inside the ISS by the seven-member crew of Expedition 69, including AlNeyadi, who will conduct several days of handover activities.

After the handover period, AlNeyadi, Bowen, Hoburg, and Fedyaev of Crew-6 will undock from the space station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and splashdown (method of landing a spacecraft by parachute) off the coast of Tampa, Florida, then fly back to the Nasa home base in Houston, Texas.

Acclimatisation period

After living in microgravity for almost half a year, there will be changes in AlNeyadi’s body when he returns to Earth. In a recent interaction session with UAE students, AlNeyadi said: “After spending six months in space, when we return, we must adapt to walking and life in general. Typically, it takes about two weeks of training to readjust to life on Earth. During this time, we will conduct scientific experiments and physical exercises to return to a normal state.”

Home-cooked meals

AlNeyadi, a father of six, has repeatedly said one of the things he has been missing most during his space journey, is his mother's home-cooked meals.

Even though he has access to traditional Emirati delicacies like dates which he shared with his colleagues during Ramadan and honey sourced from Al Khawaneej in Dubai, he nostalgically pointed out, nothing could compare to the warmth and comfort of a meal cooked by his mother.

That and a very warm Marhaba plus a hero’s welcome will surely greet AlNeyadi when he safely returns to Earth after completing a historic UAE space mission.

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• Space
• UAE