Exclusive: As father of six steps out of ISS in historic feat tonight, UAE astronaut's family on earth to watch every move

When he was a kid, Sultan AlNeyadi loved looking up at the sky to see the stars, and that ignited his passion to go to space. Now, he is making history as the first Arab astronaut who will do a spacewalk, and his kids and family will witness every moment of it.

In an exclusive interview with Khaleej Times on Thursday, Adnan AlRais, mission manager of the UAE Astronaut Programme, said AlNeyadi’s family is very proud of his historic spacewalk today (April 28).

“We have very positive feedback from the family,” noted AlRais, adding: “They are following his activities and are very much aware of what he is doing.”

“Sultan himself is very excited. We are in contact with him on a regular basis. We have our own means of communication and during our regular meetings, we go through his plans and the activities ahead,” continued AlRais, noting that AlNeyadi, a father of six, has always been in constant communication with his family.

Family first

It’s nice to recall that Al Neyadi’s family, including his father, children, cousins and friends, were there at the launch site in the early days of March when he blasted off to space. AlNeyadi even shared a touching photo of him with his son before liftoff. He captioned it: “Today, we fly to pave the way for the next generations.”

His father, Saif Al Neyadi, meanwhile, shared a video montage of Sultan giving fist bumps to his children before hopping into the Tesla car that brought him to the launch pad. Saif also expressed how proud he was of his son. He said: “I’m really proud of Sultan, not because he is my son, but because he is a son of the UAE.”

AlNeyadi always carries that deep connection with his family and homeland. On April 12, he shared a striking image of his hometown, captured 400km above Earth from the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) – his abode in space for six months.

AlNeyadi greeted everyone in Al Ain (followed by a purple heart emoji) and said: “My cherished recollections of Umm Ghafa – its inviting streets and warm-hearted people remain etched in my memory forever.”

First for the Arab world

AlNeyadi has certainly come a long way – from the desert dunes of Umm Ghafa, 30 kilometres southeast of Al Ain, in Abu Dhabi, where he was born on May 23, 1981, to becoming the ‘Sultan of Space.’

He has already made history as the first Arab astronaut on a long-duration space mission. And today, he will take that giant step for the Arab world as the first astronaut to set off on a historic spacewalk.

AlNeyadi will be accompanied by veteran Nasa astronaut Stephen Bowen. They will spend around six hours and 30 minutes for the extravehicular activity (EVA) or spacewalk, that will expose them to various challenges in the vacuum of space – where temperature varies from as cold as negative 121 degrees Centigrade to as hot as 121 degrees in the sunlight, which is almost three times the peak of summer in the UAE.

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