Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is set to go to the International Space Station this week.
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft will carry Mr Maezawa, 46, founder of Japan’s largest online fashion mall, into space along with video producer Yozo Hirano and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin on Wednesday.
A launch is scheduled for 11.38am, UAE time, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and will be streamed live by the Russian space agency Roscosmos and Nasa.
Mr Maezawa plans to document his 12-day stay on the space station for his 754,000 subscribers on YouTube.
He booked his and his producer’s ticket through Space Adventures, a tourism company that has sent seven paying customers into space so far.
“Final check of the Soyuz before launch. I have carefully checked the position of the GoPro camera installed on the spacecraft. It’s a scary feeling,” Mr Maezawa tweeted.
The billionaire has been sharing his experience of the intense training all amateur and professional astronauts must undergo before a mission.
This includes spending 10 to 15 minutes in a spinning chair to adjust the eyes and brain to the movement.
Trainees must also sleep on a bed that is tilted up to familiarise astronauts with the feeling of blood rushing to the head.
“The spinning chair is torture. It’s one of the hardest things and I have to do it every day,” Mr Maezawa said last month.
The trip is also part of Russia’s efforts to establish a space tourism industry and stay relevant in the modern space race.
American companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have successfully sent space tourists in to space.
Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson flew on his company’s spacecraft on July 12, along with a pilot and four other crew members.
Later that month, Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos flew to space on his company’s vessel.
Since then, the space tourism company has also taken Star Trek actor William Shatner into space.
On December 9, another Blue Origin flight will take a crew of six to space, including Laura Shepard, daughter of America’s first astronaut Alan Shepard, and Super Bowl champion Michael Strahan.
Nasa no longer has to rely on using Russian rockets to send its astronauts to space. It is now using Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets.
Roscosmos beat Hollywood in October when it sent a Russian actress and director to the space station to film a movie.
American actor Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman are planning to film a movie in space.
Mr Maezawa’s journey to space is part of his ambitious plans to go to the Moon one day.
He has paid for a SpaceX flight that would take eight amateur astronauts around the Moon in 2023, including him.
"Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the Moon. This is my lifelong dream," he said when the announcement was made in 2018.
"I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon.”
"They will be asked to create something after they return to Earth. These masterpieces will inspire the dreamer within all of us.”
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
MATCH INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20electric%20motors%20with%20102kW%20battery%20pack%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E570hp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20890Nm%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Up%20to%20428km%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C700%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECVT%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E119bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E145Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh%2C89%2C900%20(%2424%2C230)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
