Dubai ∙ Sultan Al Neyadi, who is preparing for a space mission, tweeted a picture of himself wearing a space suit for the first time at Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center. Sultan Al Neyadi is preparing to become the first Arab astronaut to spend six months on the International Space Station (ISS).

Neyadi will go into space aboard the SpaceX Crew 6 probe, which will be launched by NASA in 2023. Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center has tweeted a picture of Al Neyadi wearing a space suit and his fellow travelers who arrived at the SpaceX headquarters in California as part of the preparations for the journey.

Sultan Al Neyadi will spend 180 days in space. SpaceX Crew 6 will launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With this, the UAE will become the 11th country to send tourists into space for a long time.

Sultan Alneyadi was one of the first astronauts chosen to go into space from the UAE. Alneyadi was chosen along with the UAE’s first astronaut Hasa Al Mansoori. UAE’s first space mission was in September 2019. On that day, Hasa Al Mansoori made a space flight. Alneyadi and Almansoori were selected from 4,022 candidates.

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan had earlier congratulated Sultan Al Neyadi, who is preparing for the space mission. UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum also shared his pride in Sultan Al Neyadi’s achievement.