Russian state space corporation Roscosmos will determine the date of the first United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut's flight to the International Space Station (ISS) by mid-February, the agency told Sputnik on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) Russian state space corporation Roscosmos will determine the date of the first United Arab Emirates (UAE) astronaut's flight to the International Space Station (ISS) by mid-February, the agency told Sputnik on Thursday.In July 2018, nine UAE candidates visited Russia for medical tests and simulation training. In September, two of the candidates, Hazza Mansouri and Sultan Niyadi, proceeded with their training in the Moscow Region. One of them will become the first ever UAE astronaut to fly to the ISS.
"A Roscosmos delegation held a working meeting with representatives of the [UAE] Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre, during which they discussed the progress in implementing the state corporation's obligations to organize the flight of a UAE astronaut to the Russian segment of the ISS, in particular, the progress in Arab astronauts' training. The date of the Arab astronaut's flight will be determined not later than in mid-February of 2019," the corporation's spokesperson said.
In October, a source in the aerospace industry told Sputnik that the UAE might cancel its initial plans to send its astronaut to the ISS in April, 2019 in the wake of the failed launch of the Soyuz spacecraft in October, and reschedule the flight.
