Dubai: UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has as soon as once more secured his place within the historical past books by performing the primary spacewalk for the Arab world within the vacuum of area exterior the Worldwide House Station (ISS) sooner than deliberate on Friday .
The Emirati astronaut, who’s on the longest working Arab area mission, actually took an enormous leap to hold Zayed’s ambition and the UAE flag into area when he exited the station’s Quest Airlock almost half-hour after the official begin of the spacewalk at 5.11pm.
The Sultan of House proudly wore the UAE flag on the shoulder of his cumbersome protecting area swimsuit or Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) which weighs 145kg on Earth. He additionally wore the UAE seven-line nationwide brand with the caption Unattainable Is Attainable on the cuff of his swimsuit.
He, together with NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, carried out Expedition 69’s first spacewalk, or Extravehicular Exercise (EVA), the fourth for the ISS this yr.
The previous community engineer’s achievement with the UAE navy made the nation the tenth on the earth to conduct a spacewalk exterior the ISS.
The much-anticipated occasion was live-streamed from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Heart (MBRSC), the company behind the UAE Astronaut Program in Dubai, from 4.30pm UAE time.
A few hours earlier than the spacewalk, Al Neyadi tweeted: Countdown the hours till we go via the ISS airlock in area. Sporting my area swimsuit and proudly carrying the UAE flag on my arm, I’ll quickly embark on the Arab world’s first spacewalk. Want us luck!
The NASA reside stream, which was additionally broadcast by MBRSC, confirmed him and Bowen all dressed contained in the Gear Lock of the ISS’s Quest Airlock for the primary time. Later, they moved to Crew Lock, which supplies the precise exit to carry out spacewalks the place their fits had been depressurized earlier than exiting.
It won’t be the final for the Arab world
I wish to thank my management, the management of the UAE and the US particularly within the Mohammed Bin Rashid Heart and NASA for believing in us and giving us this chance. This can be the primary within the Arab world. But it surely actually will not be the final. Arab astronauts at the moment are coaching to undertake a mission to the ISS, the lunar floor and Mars. I wish to thank everybody who has helped us via this second.
He additionally conveyed a message of thanks and love in Arabic to Al Mansouri.
McClain additionally congratulated each astronauts on finishing their historic EVA.
Sultan, you’ve now joined an unique membership of people who’ve stepped out into the vacuum of area. And in doing so, it marked a serious milestone for the UAE. It is a historic second for the increasing face of worldwide cooperation. Congratulations to each of you, she added.
Bowen added: It was an important honor to take part in Sultan’s very first spacewalk.
How the EVA befell
The historic EVA was scheduled for six and a half hours. It was concluded a couple of minutes later with unfinished enterprise following a technical glitch.
The duo’s major duties included routing cables for the longer term improve of the area station’s solar energy system and retrieving a Radio Frequency Group (RFG) antenna unit used for the area station’s communication with Earth.
In addition they needed to rearrange the footrests scattered over completely different components of the station’s exterior for their very own use and to facilitate use by future astronauts.
They accomplished the primary main activity of routing cables for the longer term improve of the station’s feeder channels with the brand new ISS roll-out photo voltaic arrays (iROSA) flawlessly.
In addition they put in and secured multi-layer insulation over the photo voltaic panels.
The duo additionally rearranged APFR or Articulating Transportable Foot Restraint (foothold) forward of schedule.
Nevertheless, they confronted a serious problem with the removing of the RFG unit.
Whereas different duties have been efficiently achieved earlier than, they failed to realize their purpose of recovering the S-band RFG antenna gear and bringing it contained in the area station for refurbishment on Earth sooner or later.
As a part of the duty, Al Neyadi eliminated a multi-thermal insulating curtain atop the gear.
Bowen was dropped at the RFG unit by the station’s Canadarm-2 robotic arm. He used a drill to unscrew the bolts to take away the RFG {hardware} from the station. Whereas he managed to take away eight bolts, the middle carry bolt got here off and the RFG unit was not faraway from its strut.
Whereas NASA’s Johnson House Heart Mission Management Heart (MCC) in Houston tried to assist them troubleshoot the bolt, Al Neyadi had to return to get an EVA hammer to repair the bolt.
As that additionally failed, the astronauts had been instructed to repair the bolts.
NASA confirmed that the RFG antenna unit ought to by no means have been recovered throughout an EVA, given the actual form of the construction, and instructed the 2 to desert the plan.
Afterwards, they proceeded with the cleansing procedures. Al Neyadi additionally lined the S-band antenna {hardware} that the groups had been working to take away, with multilayer insulation to maintain it protected.
After retrieving their locked crew baggage, they reentered the Quest Airlock and closed the hatches.
Surgeons fingers
Whereas it was the eighth spacewalk for veteran Bowen, rookie Al Neyadi carried out simply as nicely, usually receiving reward from NASA Cap Com (Capsule Communication) astronaut Anne McClain.
As he briefed the 2 astronauts from the Mission Management Heart, McClain continued to understand the work nicely performed by Al Neyadi. At one level, he even talked about that he had the fingers of a surgeon.
Utilizing a pair of scissors to chop a conch shell on Al Neyadi’s RFG antenna was additionally stated to be a uncommon train on an EVA. Nevertheless, he later needed to recreate the strap he had lower earlier following the abandonment of the plan to get better the RFG unit.
Wonders of area
The reside pictures provided magnificent views of the wonders of area as the 2 astronauts continued to maneuver throughout the station’s floor by pushing towards the handles on the station’s exterior.
Gentle and darkish flashed with the fast alternation of day and night time as they orbited the Earth each hour and a half.
When the primary dawn occurred throughout their mission, Al Neyadi loved the view and stated it was stunning.
Spectators and astronauts additionally witnessed wonderful views of the Earth and the Moon.
The microgravity laboratory orbited the Earth about 420 km above the planet at about 17,500 miles/28,000 kilometers per hour.
NASA flight engineers Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio assisted the astronauts out and in of their spacesuits and monitored their spacewalk.
In the meantime, the primary UAE astronaut and Al Neyadis’ backup on this mission, Hazzaa Al Mansouri, who can also be the augmentation lead for Expedition 69, monitored the mission from the Johnson House Heart.
The bottom station staff and senior MBRSC officers additionally monitored the historic area occasion from MBRSC Mission Management.
