Today's Edition
AMNA AL KITBI (DUBAI)
Emirati astronauts Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla, along with 11 US candidates, will graduate from a NASA training programme on March 5.
The graduation ceremony will be held at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.
After their graduation from NASA’s 2024 class, Al Matrooshi and Al Mulla will be qualified for space missions, including the International Space Station (ISS), in addition to other future US-led missions, such as missions to the moon planned under NASA’s Artemis programme.
All Emirati astronauts will soon be qualified for missions to Lunar Gateway, as the UAE has guaranteed a place for one of its astronauts on the station that orbits the moon.
The two astronauts, since starting their training at the Johnson Space Centre in 2021, have undergone a series of courses that included water landing, such as landing a space shuttle in the ocean, and other training that qualify them to deal with emergency landing in diverse terrains.
They also studied shuttle engines and aviation mechanics, among other sciences, such as geology to acquaint them with the moon surface.
Training courses also covered aviation, spacesuits, walking in space, and field training on geology to qualify them to operate the ISS.
Al Mulla and Al Matrooshi also received training to fly T6 aircraft with the US Navy in Florida. This training course prepares pilots to do manoeuvres during ascend and descend phases.
The astronauts also received training on high acceleration G-powers, emergencies, planning flight itineraries, and communication with control towers, among others.
