Besides constructing its own space station, the South Asian country aims to send the first Indian to the moon by 2040
UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and three other members of Crew-6 have completed the countdown dress rehearsal at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, in preparation for the upcoming targeted launch on Monday.
Taking to Twitter, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre shared photos of AlNeyadi and his crew mates (NASA mission commander Stephen Bowen, Nasa pilot Warren Hoburg, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev) wearing SpaceX spacesuits inside the a space capsule.
The rehearsal simulated what will happen on launch day, with launch teams assisting Crew-6 members into their spacesuits inside the Astronaut Crew Quarters at the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Buildin.
They then took the elevator down to the ground floor and exited the building’s double doors, where Tesla cars drove them to Launch Complex 39A.
A static-fire test (vehicle ground test to check the whole pre-flight process and detect any potential issues) was also completed on Friday.
There will be three launch opportunities in a row that would satisfy the requirements to dock at the International Space Station (ISS), MBRSC earlier noted.
Crew-6 will spend six months to do a total of 250 research experiments, out of which AlNeyadi will personally conduct at least 20 experiments, apart from fulfilling other tasks and conducting maintenance work on the orbiting science laboratory.
This mission will make the UAE only the 11th country in the world to send astronauts on a long-term mission to space.
angel@khaleejtimes.com
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