Credits By: The National
On Thursday, the United States Space Agency revealed that United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi, the first Arab astronaut to participate in a long-duration space mission, and his Crew-6 colleagues will return to Earth no early than September 1.
“Our #Crew6 astronauts have been living and working on the @Space_Station for nearly six months—now, they’re about to come home,” NASA posted on X (formerly Twitter), adding: “The crew’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, will undock from the space station no earlier than Friday, September 1, splashing down off the coast of Florida.”
Members of Crew 6 Since it docked on March 3, 2023, AlNeyadi, NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev have been residing and working aboard the orbiting outpost. The crew participated in hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations during the mission. These investigations included student robotic competitions, plant genetics, and human health in microgravity. These investigations aimed to improve life on Earth and prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
While we wait for Crew-7
The arrival of the subsequent crew rotation mission will determine whether or not Crew-6 will be allowed to return. According to NASA, astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, astronaut Andreas Mogensen of the European Space Agency, astronaut Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov of Roscosmos will launch from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Centre on August 25 or later to travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft Endurance.
Following the completion of the docking procedure, Crew-7 will be welcomed inside the ISS by the seven-member crew of Expedition 69. This crew will include AlNeyadi and the other members of Crew-6, who will return home after they must first complete all handover protocols.
After the handover phase, the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft Endeavour crew will undock from the International Space Station and perform a splashdown (a method of landing a spacecraft using a parachute) in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Tampa, Florida. After that, they will return to the NASA headquarters in Houston, Texas.
Adjusting to life on Earth after returning there
When AlNeyadi returns to Earth after spending over half a year living in microgravity, his body will undergo several alterations. AlNeyadi shared the following insight with students from the United Arab Emirates at a recent interaction session: “After spending six months in space, when we return, we must adapt to walking and life in general.” It typically takes roughly two weeks of training to acclimate to life on Earth successfully. To recover to our normal state, we will engage in various types of physical activity and scientific research during this period.
AlNeyadi, the first Arab astronaut to ever complete a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS), did so on April 28 this year. Since then, he has collaborated with universities in the United Arab Emirates and international space organizations to conduct around 220 experiments and scientific studies on the effects of microgravity on the human body. In addition to that, he has performed a variety of maintenance tasks at various locations on the International Space Station (ISS), and he has also participated in several live encounters with children and adolescents to provide them with helpful information regarding living in space and the science related with the UAE space project.
