First Arab joins the space station crew

A rocket ­blasted off from Kazakhstan carrying an Emirati who will make history as the first Arab on the International Space Station.

Emirati astronaut Hazzaa al-Mansoori shortly before the launching of a Russian rocket carrying him to the International Space Station. Picture: AP.

A Soyuz rocket ­blasted off on Thursday from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan carrying an Emirati who will make history as the first Arab on the International Space Station.

The Russian rocket carrying the three-member crew — including Hazzaa al-Mansoori of the United Arab Emirates — took off as scheduled.

Al-Mansoori, 35, is accompanied by Russia’s Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. They were expected to dock at the station just under six hours after launch.

“Everything continues to go smoothly for this ride,” a commentator said on NASA television seven minutes after the launch.

Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said that the spacecraft had successfully reached orbit.

Mr Mansoori received support from around the world before what he described as his “dream” mission. He pumped his fist in to the air before the launch. He will spend eight days on the ISS and be the first Emirati and the first Arab on the orbiting laboratory, but not the first Muslim.

Writing on Twitter before the launch, Mr Mansoori said he was “filled with this indescribable feeling of glory and awe”. “Today I carry the dreams and ambition of my country to a whole new dimension. May Allah grant me success in this mission,” he said.

The day before the launch, he said he would record his prayer routine on the ISS and broadcast it to Earth. “As a fighter pilot I ­already prayed in my aircraft,” he said, explaining that he had experience of prayers at high speed.

The Soyuz spacecraft blasts off from Kazakhstan. Picture: AP

Mr Mansoori plans to conduct experiments and said he would take Emirati food with him to share with the crew.

Mr Skripochka, first-time flyer Dr Meir and Mr Mansoori will join a six-member crew on the ISS and for a brief period of time the ISS will be home to nine astronauts. At a pre-flight conference, Dr Meir, 42, said the crew communicated by using “Runglish” — a mixture of Russian and English.

“We still need to work on our Arabic,” she joked.

Mr Mansoori is set to return to Earth with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin on Thursday, October 3. Mr Skripochka and Dr Meir are set to remain on the ISS until the spring of 2020.

The ISS — a rare example of co-operation between Russia and the West — has been orbiting Earth at about 28,000km/h since 1998. Russia is resolved to keep its position as a leader of the space ­industry, particularly for manned space flights.

AFP