Saudi Arabia is hoping to make its mark in space exploration tonight, after it sends two of its citizens to the International Space Station for an eight-day science mission.
Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al Qarni are set to become the first Saudi citizens in space in nearly 40 years, when the kingdom launched Prince Sultan bin Salman on Nasa's Space Shuttle.
They are launching as part of a private mission, called Axiom 2, alongside Americans Peggy Whitson, the commander of the trip, and pilot John Shoffner.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the crew of four to space at 1.37am GST from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, with arrival at the orbiting outpost expected 16 hours later, at about 6pm.
They will join the UAE's Sultan Al Neyadi, who is currently on the ISS for a six-month mission - the Arab world's first long duration space mission.
Saudi Arabia is also hoping to make history tonight, with Ms Barnawi as the first Arab woman to go on an orbital mission.
How to watch
Nasa, SpaceX and Axiom Space, the Houston company that has helped arrange the trip, will broadcast the launch live on its website and social media channels.
Nasa's live stream will begin at 12.30am.
Live scenes are expected to show the suited-up astronauts getting into their Teslas and making their way to the launch pad.
It is customary for astronauts launching on SpaceX rockets to ride Teslas, as both companies are owned by billionaire Elon Musk.
The live stream will also show the crew arriving at the launch pad, walking across the launch tower and boarding the Dragon spacecraft, placed on top of the Falcon 9 rocket.
Lift-off will take place once all checks have been completed and Nasa and SpaceX have given the final 'go'.
The crew's docking and arrival into the space station will also be broadcasted.
There is a back-up launch date of May 23, around midnight. But if both launch opportunities are missed, the mission will stay grounded for several weeks at least, as Nasa and SpaceX will have to prioritise other missions.
Weather around launch time
There is a 40 per cent chance that the launch will violate weather rules, as skies over the launch site will have cumulonimbus and cumulus clouds, according to the US Space Force 45th Weather Squadron.
If the launch is pushed to the back-up date, weather conditions will be even more unfavourable, with an 80 per cent probability of violation.
Brian Cizek, weather officer at the US Space Force, said in a pre-launch media briefing last night that they are monitoring the weather.
"Overall, weather is looking pretty good for tomorrow (launch day), just a 40 per cent probability of violation again, the main concern being the anvil clouds coming back eastward from those thunderstorms that will be to our west," he said.
"But then the pattern becomes a lot messier as we head into the beginning of the work week.
"So, unfortunately, the probability of violation bumps up to 80 per cent as we had to that first backup day on Monday, early evening,"
SpaceX carried out a successful static fire test, a ground test, of the Falcon 9 rocket last night to determine whether it was launch ready.
Who are the two Saudi astronauts?
Ms Barnawi, 33, is a research laboratory specialist, with nine years of experience in cancer stem cell research. She has a master's degree in biomedical science from Alfaisal University.
Mr Al Qarni, 31, is an air force captain with 2,387 flying hours logged. He has 12 years of experience on fighter aircraft. He has a bachelor's degree in aeronautical sciences from the King Faisal Air Academy.
The duo have been assigned 14 experiments by Saudi researchers, including one that will test cloud-seeding techniques in a reaction chamber.
Another experiment is for the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre.
It involves studying the inflammatory response of human immune cells in microgravity.
They will investigate changes in the mRNA – a genetic material that tells the body how to make proteins.
TICKETS
For tickets for the two-day Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) event, entitled Dubai Invasion 2019, on September 27 and 28 go to www.meraticket.com.
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EA Sports FC 25
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Publisher: EA Sports
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Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Lamsa
Founder: Badr Ward
Launched: 2014
Employees: 60
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: EdTech
Funding to date: $15 million
The specs
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F1 The Movie
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Rating: 4/5
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Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Tesalam Aleik
Abdullah Al Ruwaished
(Rotana)
WTL%20SCHEDULE
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The biog
From: Upper Egypt
Age: 78
Family: a daughter in Egypt; a son in Dubai and his wife, Nabila
Favourite Abu Dhabi activity: walking near to Emirates Palace
Favourite building in Abu Dhabi: Emirates Palace
Quick%20facts
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The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
Packages which the US Secret Service said contained possible explosive devices were sent to:
- Former first lady Hillary Clinton
- Former US president Barack Obama
- Philanthropist and businessman George Soros
- Former CIA director John Brennan at CNN's New York bureau
- Former Attorney General Eric Holder (delivered to former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz)
- California Congresswoman Maxine Waters (two devices)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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The specs
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
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