Last week, the UAE made history by successfully launching the first Emirati, and indeed Arabic, astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori, into space.
Following an eight-day mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Al Mansoori is set to return to terra firma at 3pm today Dubai time (Thursday October 3), and you can watch his arrival live, right here.
Within the last hour, at 11.32am, Mansoori tweeted from space, saying his Soyuz MS-12 capsule has un-docked from the ISS, accompanied by colleagues Alexey Ovchinin and Nick Hague.
We are about to undock from the ISS. Another challenge is wandering around. With fear and pride, I am returning with Zayed’s ambition achieved. We are not done yet, and we will never be. To bring back the golden era of arab astronauts. pic.twitter.com/9aYUFNyi0H
— Hazzaa AlMansoori (@astro_hazzaa) October 3, 2019
During his mission, Al Mansoori answered questions from Earth-based students about his trip and experience, while he also wore a traditional Emirati kandoura and shared meals with his fellow astronauts.
Ahead of his trip, state news agency WAM said he would be responsible for conducting “various scientific missions”, which are set to significantly advance the UAE’s status among its international peers in space science and research, while also contributing towards the county’s aspirations to “transform itself into a knowledge-based economy”.
Watch the whole stream live from 1.30pm, with touch down expected at 3pm.
