Sultan Al Neyadi begins health experiments after busy weeks of maintenance tasks on ISS

The Emirati astronaut is helping scientists learn affects of space travel on human heart

Sultan Al Neyadi has spent the past two weeks carrying out maintenance on the International Space Station

UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has begun science experiments on the International Space Station again, after a busy two weeks of carrying out a spacewalk and relocating the Dragon capsule to another docking port.

He spent most of Thursday setting up hardware and software that collects medical data from a headband and vest.

The experiment is part of the space health study he has been doing since arriving on the station on March 3 for a six-month mission.

Dr Al Neyadi will wear the headband and vest to help scientists measure the affects of space missions on the cardiovascular system.

“Astronauts Frank Rubio and Woody Hoburg of Nasa and Sultan Al Neyadi of UAE focused their efforts on maintaining a variety of research hardware throughout the day,” Nasa said on Friday.

“Al Neyadi set up bio-monitor hardware and software that collects medical data from a headband and vest loaded with sensors that he is wearing for the space health study.

Dr Al Neyadi and his colleagues have been assigned nearly 200 experiments by researchers around the world, as well as 19 by universities in the UAE.

He became the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk on April 28, when he floated outside of the orbiting laboratory to do a seven-hour maintenance assignment.

Last week, he again stepped out of the ISS again to relocate a Dragon capsule to another docking port, with the help of three of his colleagues.

This helped make space for other spacecraft arriving later this month and in June, including a Dragon capsule bringing two Saudi and two American astronauts who will spend 10 days there.

Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al Qarni are the first Saudi citizens to go to space since the kingdom launched Prince Sultan bin Salman on a Space Shuttle nearly 40 years ago.

They are going to space with American colleagues Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner as part of a private trip by Houston-based company Axiom Space.

Dr Al Neyadi spent about 20 minutes on Thursday speaking live to pupils in Mauritius.

It was his first live call outside of the UAE under his “A Call from Space” initiative, in which he answers questions from heads of states, pupils and space enthusiasts.

Dr Al Neyadi is due to return to Earth in late August.