(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Monday phoned Emirati astronauts Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi, to learn about their final preparations for the September 25 mission to the International Space Station, ISS.
"Your historic expedition to the ISS ushers the United Arab Emirates in a monumental phase within its transformational development drive where the country is making unremitting efforts to achieve quantum leaps in areas of space at the hands of its youth," said Sheikh Mohamed, expressing confidence in the Emirati people's capabilities to fulfill their responsibilities towards their nation.
He expressed sincere wishes for success to the two astronauts, praying to Almighty Allah for their safe return.
"You're embodying the hopes and ambitions of a nation that is steadfastly progressing, thanks to the visionary vision of our leaders, to fulfill our aspirations and achieve quantum supremacy across all fields," Sheikh Mohamed added.
"You both represent every Emirati and our nation is lucky to have cadres like yourselves," he enthused.
For their part, AlMansoori and AlNeyadi expressed sincere thanks to Sheikh Mohamed and the UAE wise leadership for their unswerving support.
"We are all proud of being representatives of our homeland on the International Space Station and raising the UAE flag onboard," they said.
"This milestone represents reaping the fruits sown by late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan when he once received foreign cosmonauts; the Founding Father was then getting the nation geared for a brighter future and now we are following in his footsteps," they added.
On Wednesday, September 25, 2019, at 5:56pm the first Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori will be launched on board the Soyuz Launch Vehicle, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Space Center in Kazakhstan, to board the International Space Station.
The UAE Astronaut Programme was launched in April 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with the objective to train and prepare the first Emirati astronaut corps to be sent to space for various scientific missions.
Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi are the first batch of astronauts from this programme. They trained in the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Moscow under an agreement between the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and Roscosmos for a mission to the International Space Station on 25th September 2019, for which Hazzaa AlMansoori is the main astronaut and Sultan AlNeyadi is his back up.
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