UAE astronaut AlNeyadi begins historic six-month mission at International Space Station

Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi speaking in Arabic from the International Space Station (ISS) addressed everyone on Earth while extending his gratitude after being welcomed at the orbiting station.

Speaking in English later from the microgravity environment, AlNeyadi thanked his family, the UAE leadership, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) and the entire UAE gathering as a big family. He added "the UAE, in cooperation with international partners, is helping in pushing the boundaries of science for the benefit of humanity…Go Dragon, Go Space X!"

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour docked at the station’s Harmony module at 10.40am UAE time on Friday.

What happens at rendezvous with the ISS?

At rendezvous, both the space shuttle and the ISS have an orbital velocity of 28,000 km/hr (approximately 17,500 mph). Their relative translational velocities, however, are zero. As the docking process begins, the space shuttle uses its thrusters to approach the ISS.

Where there is a collision, there is an energy transfer and as both the space shuttle and ISS together are effectively one isolated system, and since energy is conserved, the energy of impact must remain within the system.

For this reason, the Orbital Docking System (ODS) is constructed to damp out the energy of the collision, as well as perfectly align the docking rings of both vehicles. This ensures an ideal seal between the space shuttle and the ISS.

Delay in docking and the eventual welcome of Crew 6

Docking was delayed slightly today, as mission teams completed troubleshooting a faulty docking hook sensor on Dragon.

Ground teams verified that all of the docking hooks were in the proper configuration and software override was developed for the faulty sensor that allowed the docking process to successfully continue.

Eventually, leak checks were conducted for an hour and a half before the hatches of both the ISS and Crew Dragon were opened to allow Crew-6 members to enter the ISS.

Inside the ISS, monitoring the Dragon’s approach was astronaut Josh Cassada, flight engineer of Expedition 68.

Finally, welcoming Crew 6 were seven members of Expedition 68. This included four members of Crew-5 and three who arrived on Russia’s Soyuz MS-22.

First to ‘float’ into the ISS was Nasa mission commander Stephen Bowen, followed by Nasa pilot Warren Hoburg, then UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Kathyrn Lueders, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate in Washington addressing Crew 6 (after their welcome) said, “There was a little bit of anticipation for the Crew 6 folks making it a little bit longer before you got to station but as always it’s so great to see all of you come safely to the hatch enjoying with crew members on the station.

"The next six months will just be packed with very critical events. One of the first critical events is to get the Crew 5 crewmates to come back to Earth. We are looking forward to all the great science and hopefully a couple of EVAs and you’ll have a few more crew vehicles coming on during this period of time too. We are proud of you.”

Meanwhile, Al Neyadi also flaunted the Crew 6 mascot ‘Suhail’ from space. The character was created by MBRSC to inspire the youth and children to take interest in STEM.

Addressing the newly arrived flight engineers Hamad Obaid AlMansoori, Chairman, MBRSC said, “Congratulations to Sultan, and others as well as the little astronaut Suhail for your successful arrival to the ISS. Your mission to space represents a huge milestone for SpaceX, NASA and the UAE. Crew 6 you’ve become part of our community back home in the UAE.”

• Look: Rare photo shows UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi in his school years