Dubai: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 returned to Earth after a five-month stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) where they spent over a week with the UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who is on the longest Arab space mission as part of the Crew-6 mission.

Before Crew-5 came down to Earth, Al Neyadi shared a wonderful time with the foursome and the 11-member crew on board the space station also made memories by clicking historic photos.

The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai tweeted a group photo of the 11 temporary residents of the ISS comprising astronauts and cosmonauts of the US, Russia, Japan and the UAE. The photo tweeted just hours before four members of Crew-5 returned to Earth showed all 11 of them huddling inside the microgravity laboratory with a thumbs up sign.

The Expedition 68 insignia features seven sparkling stars in the vastness of space, representing crew members and experts on the ground. Bright sunbeams illuminate the ISS, a platform for scientific research, Earth and astronomical observation, education, as well as development of new technologies necessary for the exploration beyond low-Earth orbit, on the Moon and Mars.

Great team work

Al Neyadi had a great time working with the ISS family of 11. “I can’t be happier than this…I mean, seeing all friends in space, gathering as a big family…This is the essence of space exploration,” he had said in his first speech after floating into the orbital laboratory. He had also ensured the presence of Suhail, the mascot of MBRSC, in his first ever group photo on board the ISS.

During his first interaction with school kids in Dubai’s Jumeirah College on March 7, Al Neyadi had once again spoken about the friendly environment aboard the ISS “with a very nice crew.”

“So in that regard, I don’t really feel scared in space,” he said in response to a student’s question about what is the scariest thing that has happened to him in space. He had also pointed out that astronauts are “well-prepared to deal with any sort of emergency, so we don’t feel scared.”

The first Najmonaut (Arab astronaut) on the longest Arab space mission seems to have made a special bond with his Japanese colleague, astronaut Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) of Crew-5.

UAE, with love from space

Wakata was seen in Al Neyadi’s first ever video of the Earth from the Cupola of the ISS on March 9. As he floated towards the Cupola, he encountered Wakata taking pictures from the Cupola.

After exchanging greetings, Al Neyadi told Wakata, “I am gonna share this moment with everybody!”

Al Ain received a special mention as it is the hometown of Al Neyadi.

So far, only 259 spacewalks have been conducted on the ISS since December 1998. Of these, 194 were conducted in US spacesuits and 65 in Russian spacesuits.

If Al Neyadi gets a chance to do it, he will be the first Arab astronaut (Najmonaut) to achieve the feat.

In the special photo from Quest, Al Neyadi can be seen in an upside-down position while Wakata sits straight facing the camera, smiling. According to NASA, the portrait was taken on March 4.

Retweeting that picture, Salem Humaid Al Marri, the director general of MBRSC, said: “@JAXA_en is one of our main partners at MBRSC. Together, we have built a strong partnership and today we expand our collaboration to space aboard the International Space Station.”