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The first Emirati astronaut's biggest fan is his nine-year-old daughter. She calls him every day to give him a countdown for his launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on September 25, where he'll be staying for eight days.
Hazza Al Mansoori opened up about having to be away from his family during his first mission. However, he said he was keen on inspiring his four children and other kids in the Arab world to aim for the skies. The 34-year-old has three sons, aged eight, five and two.
The former military pilot was speaking at a Press conference at National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (Nasa) Lyndon B Johnson Space Centre in Houston, along with his crew - Nasa flight engineer Jessica Meir and Russian Soyuz and ISS commander Oleg Skripochka.
Responding to a question posed by Khaleej Times on how he was preparing his family mentally and emotionally for his journey to the ISS, he said: "My family is really excited and thrilled about my launch. They are counting down the days. My daughter called me yesterday and said, 'Dad, you have 73 days to go.' So, she's been counting. I'm really excited and I will make sure I share the whole experience with them, and not just with my kids but with the kids of the whole Arab region. I think astronauts have a strong influence on the next generation and it's our job to do that."
Al Mansoori said he "misses his kids" and will be taking a family photo with him to the ISS as one of the three personal items the astronauts are allowed to take. "I will take their photo so I can share my experience with them while I'm in space," he said.
He has been away from home for majority of the time since he was selected to be the UAE's first astronaut. So has Sultan Al Neyadi, the back-up astronaut, who has also spent hundreds of hours in training in Russia, at the European Space Agency and now at Nasa. They both were picked out of over 4,000 candidates.
"It's a huge responsibility for me and for my colleague, Sultan, to be the first batch in this programme from our country. Our objective is to inspire the next generation and to let them know nothing is impossible. I started looking at the stars from childhood and thought it would be impossible to reach here, but I am living the impossible right now. So, my message to everyone in the world is to work on your dreams, work hard to achieve them.
"As we know, for the past 30 years, there were no astronauts from our region and today I'm really honoured and proud to represent the whole Arab region and reach the ISS."
Al Mansoori and his crew will be launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on the Soyuz MS-15 mission. He will return with Nick Hague and Alexey Ovchinin on October 3.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com
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