UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi became the first Arab to do a spacewalk during Expedition 69. He spent 7.01 hours in the vacuum of space on the International Space Station’s truss structure, completing two objectives. One objective was to work on a series of preparatory tasks, which involved routing power cables, and the other was to retrieve a crucial Radio Frequency Group (RFG) unit. Al-Neyadi and NASA Flight Engineer Stephen Bowen worked together to complete these tasks. Before the spacewalk, they underwent a two-hour oxygen purge to eliminate nitrogen from their bodies. They then had to put on their spacesuits and safety gear before entering the airlock to gradually reduce the pressure to a safe level for opening the exterior hatch.
During their high-altitude walk outside the ISS, Al-Neyadi and Bowen had to manage radiation and extreme temperatures. The surrounding environment in space can reach up to 120 degrees Celsius in sunlight and drop as low as -150 degrees Celsius when the sun is out of sight. While the spacesuit is geared to handle this, careful management of the suit during the mission was also a task at hand. Al-Neyadi will soon be completing two months in space after launching from Cape Canaveral in Florida with his Crew-6 team members on March 2.
The UAE Astronaut Programme is one of the projects managed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre under the UAE’s National Space Programme and funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority. The UAE aims to support research and development in the ICT sector in the UAE and promote the country’s integration on the global stage.
