UAE Astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi Shared Video Of Earth From The Cupola Observation Module Of ISS

Sultan Al Neyadi, the second UAE astronaut to travel to space, shared a video of Earth from space. Sultan shared the video of the earth as seen from the Cupola Observation Module of the International Space Station (ISS). Astronaut Neyadi, who is on a six-month space mission with the Crew 6 team, started their journey on March 3.

He made a live video call to Sheikh Mohamed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, after reaching space. Now he has stunned the world with a breathtaking video of Mother Earth as seen from space.

UAE’S Longest Mission- A Milestone In The Country’s History

Astronaut Al Neyadi boarded Crew 6 with a mission to take part in several scientific experiments being carried out aboard the International Space Station by NASA and other universities. This is the UAE’s longest space mission, which will undoubtedly be a milestone in the country’s history.

It was on Tuesday, March 7, that he made his first public call with the UAE leaders present at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, in Dubai. The sheik congratulated him on their safe arrival at the station. They also conversed about the impending scientific experiments and the acclimation aboard the ISS. During their conversation on congratulating Al Neyadi, the sheik mentioned the accomplishments made by the UAE, and he also remembered the founder of the UAE, who dreamed of exploring space. He added that this achievement is a proud moment for the country and an inspiration for the coming generations. 

Al Neyadi has been regularly updating his Twitter account with updates from space. Earlier, he had also posted some stunning selfies from space. On posting the video of earth on Twitter, he added that “the further we journey from earth, the more we realize just how precious it truly is.” The video opens with Al Neyadi greeting everyone. We could see him floating toward the Cupola observational module to capture the video. He said that while he captured the first images of the earth, the ISS was over Africa. As he panned the camera across the Cupola to capture the earth, he said, “This is the best place we can monitor and see our beautiful planet”. He also showed the Canadarm robotic arm, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), fixed outside the ISS. 

The Cupola is an observatory on the International Space Station, the most popular spot on the station among astronauts, as it gives breathtaking views of Earth as the station circles the planet. According to statistics provided by NASA, the ISS circles the planet at a speed of 28,000 km per hour and an average height of about 250 miles (400 km).

Apart from astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, the other members of the SpaceX Crew are NASA astronauts: Mission Commander Stephen Bowen, Pilot Woody Hoburg, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. They started their journey in the Dragan spacecraft named Endeavour, which was propelled into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After reaching the space station, the crew joined the Expedition 68 crew aboard, thus expanding the population at the space station to 11.

In a NASA podcast given before the launch of Crew 6, Sulthan Al Neyadi said that he would like to carry a camera to the space station for taking photos of the earth through the cupola. He also talked of a dream, a moment he is looking forward to: “all astronauts run toward the Cupola to watch or see the earth from there. I want to do it differently. I want to go there with a camera, hopefully. So I want to share that moment with everybody. I want to capture that moment of looking back, back towards earth, with everybody.”

The Mission

 SpaceX Crew-6 is the sixth operational NASA Commercial Crew flight. The mission was launched on March 2, 2023, and it successfully docked at the International Space Station on March 3, 2023. It is planned to conduct experiments on the ISS for about six months. It will be conducting experiments that focus on different fields, including space medicine, biology, and observation of the earth. 

According to the information provided by Mohamed bin Rashid Space Center, the crew had started their mission aboard the ISS. The other areas of focus include studies on burning certain materials in microgravity and research to find out how heart tissues are affected by the space environment. Sultan Al Neyadi participated in the Japanese KIBO module, which hosts science experiments. 

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Adapting to the new environment

The Crew 6 members were welcomed by the Expedition 68 crew at the ISS. The astronauts were given an orientation program where security briefings were explained. On landing at the ISS, as the blood rushes up, the mind and body will be experiencing several changes. When the astronauts arrived at the ISS, they were given extra sleep time to adjust to the microgravity. 

During his call to Shiekh, Al Neyadi himself explained that astronauts themselves were one of the scientific experiments. Since they are being introduced to a new environment of microgravity, they need to understand the effects of microgravity on their bodies. Monitoring the impact of space on their bodies would be one of the experiments they would conduct on a daily basis, he said.