The first female Emirati trainee astronaut is set to graduate from a Nasa programme early next year.
It means she'll become eligible to join US-led missions to space.
Nora Al Matrooshi and her colleague Mohammed Al Mulla have been training at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, since January last year.
They are the UAE's latest trainee astronauts who will follow in the footsteps of Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati in space, and Sultan Al Neyadi, who is in the middle of the Arab world's longest space mission aboard the International Space Station.
"As part of Nasa's 2021 astronaut candidate class training programme, Emirati astronauts Nora Al Mastrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla recently completed a series of rigorous training exercises in the USA," a Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre representative said on Friday.
"They are set to graduate in early 2024 as flight-eligible astronauts."
Maj Al Mansouri and Dr Al Neyadi graduated from the programme last year.
Ms Matrooshi was the first Arab woman to be selected for an astronaut corps in 2020, but Saudi Arabia's Rayyanah Barnawi became the first Arab woman to go on a space mission when she launched on an eight-day trip to the ISS last month.
Surviving in the wilderness
A video released by Nasa on Thursday shows mechanical engineer Ms Al Matrooshi and former Dubai Police helicopter pilot Mr Al Mulla during their training sessions.
They have carried out a survival training course in a remote forest at the US Army Aviation Centre of Excellence in Fort Rucker, Alabama, where they learned how to build fires, make shelters and gather food and water, alongside their Nasa colleagues.
Maj Al Mansouri and Dr Al Neyadi completed survival training in Russia in 2018.
They spent a year at the Gagarin Astronaut Training Centre in Moscow, which included days in the wilderness in freezing temperatures.
Ms Al Matrooshi and Mr Al Mulla also explored the V20 Thermal Vacuum Chamber at the Marshall Space Flight Centre in Alabama, which is currently being used to simulate lunar environments.
At Nasa's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston, they learned how to wear a spacewalking suit, which weighs about 130kg.
The two trainee astronauts will also learn how to fly T-38 supersonic jets and about the systems of the space station.
Future space missions
It is not clear if any space mission has been secured yet for the astronauts after they graduate.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, which oversees the country's astronaut programme, said they would send astronauts to space every three to five years.
Maj Al Mansouri went on an eight-day mission to the ISS in 2019 and Dr Al Neyadi arrived at the station on March 3 for a six-month stay.
But, as space agencies look to retire the ISS by the end of this decade, Emirati astronauts will probably have a future on private space stations and flights to the Moon under Nasa's Artemis programme, if the UAE secures a deal with the US.
Companies like Blue Origin and Axiom Space have plans to build stations in low-Earth orbit, with paying customers welcome aboard.
While government-run agencies like Nasa have set their sights on crewed missions to the Moon and beyond.
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bundesliga results
Mainz 0 Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 1')
Schalke 1 (Caligiuri pen 51') Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Miranda og 81')
The specs: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo/GranCabrio
Price, base Dh485,000 (GranTurismo) and Dh575,000 (GranCabrio)
Engine 4.7L V8
Transmission Six-speed automatic
Power 460hp @ 7,000rpm
Torque 520Nm @ 4,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 14.3L (GranTurismo) and 14.5L (GranCabrio) / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
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Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Classification from Tour de France after Stage 17
1. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 73:27:26"
2. Rigoberto Uran (Colombia / Cannondale-Drapac) 27"
3. Romain Bardet (France / AG2R La Mondiale)
4. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team) 53"
5. Mikel Landa (Spain / Team Sky) 1:24"
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
