UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is getting his spacesuit ready for a spacewalk on Friday.
He will venture outside the International Space Station with one of his Nasa colleagues, Stephen Bowen, on a six-and-a-half hour maintenance exercise.
The assignment will make Dr Al Neyadi, 41, the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk.
On Monday, he wore a set of virtual reality goggles on Monday as he trained for a variety of unlikely rescue scenarios should things go awry during the spacewalk.
Nasa said the two astronauts had spent Tuesday configuring their spacesuits, apart from organising the tools they will use during the exercise and inspecting the tethers that will keep them safely attached to the ISS.
"The two spacewalkers will spend about six and a half hours in the vacuum of space, continuing the process of upgrading the station’s power generation system," the US space agency said.
Nasa astronauts Woody Hoburg and Frank Rubio will assist the pair in getting into and out of their spacesuits, and also monitor their spacewalk.
Dr Al Neyadi and Mr Bowen will venture outside the ISS at about 5.15pm GST, when their spacesuits will be switched on to battery power.
What will they do during the spacewalk?
The duo will carry out several tasks during the mission. Their first major job will be to retrieve foot restraints from different parts of the space station's exterior.
These restraints will be stowed away or placed at other parts of the station so that astronauts can use them during future spacewalks.
They will then prepare a part of the ISS for a future solar array that will be installed during a spacewalk later this year.
Dr Al Neyadi will also retrieve a radio frequency unit that will eventually be sent back to Earth for repairs.
The unit has a multithermal insulation tent over it, so he will spend some of his time removing that.
Mr Bowen will be assisting in removing the hardware and will be carried to the voltage side of the radio frequency unit by the space station's robotic arm, where he will use a drill to unscrew the bolts to finally remove the hardware from the station.
Are they ready for the daring task?
Dr Al Neyadi completed an extensive training programme at Nasa that prepared him for the spacewalk.
The UAE astronaut spent hours beneath one of the world's largest indoor swimming pools at a Nasa complex that simulates a microgravity environment.
The 12m-deep pool is located in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Sonny Carter Training Facility in Houston, Texas.
Operational since 1995, it has served not only Americans but astronauts whose space agencies have partnerships with Nasa, including those from Europe, Japan, Canada and, most recently, the UAE.
Astronauts wear their extravehicular activity suits, which weigh 127kg, while training under water.
Mr Bowen is experienced in spacewalks, having performed seven of them in previous missions.
The biog
Name: Atheja Ali Busaibah
Date of birth: 15 November, 1951
Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”
Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Rating: 4/5
The specs
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Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
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Torque: 985Nm
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Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Five%20calorie-packed%20Ramadan%20drinks
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Scream%20VI
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Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
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