3 months on ISS: When will UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi return to Earth?

As UAE astronaut Dr Sultan AlNeyadi hits the midway mark in his almost six-month-long space exploration mission, anticipation is high regarding when the Emirati will return to the Earth. According to Nasa and SpaceX, AlNeyadi and his fellow Crew 6 members will return in late August. A precise date is yet to be identified.

At the beginning of May, during a live stream of the Dragon capsule relocation mission, officials confirmed that Crew 6 would return to the Earth in late August. “Crew 6 will remain on station until this fall, targeting late August for return to Earth,” said Jessie Anderson, SpaceX production and engineering manager, during the live stream.

According to her, AlNeyadi and his teammates will return inside a Crew Dragon Endeavor spacecraft and make a splashdown off the coast of Florida in late August.

AlNeyadi, who arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on March 3, has conducted several scientific experiments in medicine, physics, and other fields- including one that tested medicines that could reverse the effects of microgravity on the heart.

Meanwhile, the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), carrying Saudi Arabian astronauts Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, joined the crew of Expedition 69 at the ISS for nine days. The teams worked together, conducting a multitude of space research aboard the space station during their short stay. It was the first time in history that three Arab astronauts were in space simultaneously.

AlNeyadi assisted Ax-2 Mission Specialist Rayyanah Barnawi in the Kibo laboratory module as she treated samples for a study exploring the effects of microgravity on the inflammatory response of human cells.

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