Sultan Al Neyadi’s family farewell moment before departure (greeting his children)
Videos that showed the last farewell moments and spread through the communication sites
After the famous space exploration company, SpaceX, prepared with its billionaire owner, Elon Musk, to send a crew of two astronauts to the International Space Station, the flight launched on Monday morning.
Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, along with another Russian and two others, joined the flight, as part of a long-term mission of up to 6 months.
Complete the equipment
The team launched from Cape Canaveral at the Kennedy Space Center aboard the SpaceX Dragon Endeavor spacecraft carried by the Falcon 9 rocket, as part of NASA’s Mission 69.
This came after the mission crew completed final preparations for launch day, while the “Falcon 9” rocket and the “SpaceX Dragon Endeavor” spacecraft were placed on the launch pad.
Videos for the moment of farewell
Meanwhile, videos spread on social media showing a touching moment of farewell to Al Neyadi by his children before the start, as he appeared riding the vehicle while they waved goodbye to him.
Al-Neyadi had confirmed that he had high morale and great readiness, and that preparations were now expedited for the main crew to conduct an accurate simulation of the launch process, entry to the spacecraft, and the experience of wearing the mission suit.
He also explained, in press statements to local media hours before the launch, that the team conducted some exercises at the end of last day to enhance the psychological readiness of the mission team.
Advanced research
It is noteworthy that the “Crew 6” mission is the first long-term mission for Arab astronauts, with a duration of 6 months.
It was launched by the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center as part of the UAE Astronaut Programme, aboard the International Space Station. It was also considered part of Expedition 69.
The team includes Stephen Bowen, the NASA mission commander, Warren Hoberg, the spacecraft commander, and Andrei Fedyaev, the mission specialist. Astronauts Nikolai Schap, Oleg Kononenko, and Laurel O’Hara will also join the team later.
During the mission, the Emirati astronaut will conduct a series of experiments and advanced research in order to reach important scientific results about outer space.