Watch: Animation shows how Sultan Al Neyadi will perform his first spacewalk on Friday

Emirati astronaut will spend nearly seven hours outside space station for maintenance work

Sultan Al Neyadi with his EVA (spacewalk) suit.

A Nasa animation has shown the daring tasks UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi will have to perform on his spacewalk on Friday.

Dr Al Neyadi, 41, is due to venture outside the International Space Station with Nasa colleague Stephen Bowen for a six-and-a-half hour maintenance assignment.

They will begin the spacewalk at about 5.15pm GST, when their space suits will be switched on to battery power.

ISS managers at Nasa spoke about what the astronauts' spacewalk will involve during an online media briefing on Monday, and released the animation video.

The spacewalk will be streamed live on Nasa's website, with Mr Bowen referred to as 'EV-1' and Dr Al Neyadi as 'EV-2'.

"We're super excited about the crew's spacewalk," said Dina Contella, operations integration manager of the ISS at Nasa.

"Steve Bowen — an extreme veteran. This will be his eighth spacewalk.

"And also Sultan Al Neyadi. Excited about his first EVA (extravehicular activity) and also the first for the United Arab Emirates in general."

What will the spacewalk involve?

Dr Al Neyadi and Mr Bowen will be carrying out several tasks during their long spacewalk.

Their first major job will be to retrieve foot restraints spread out on different parts of the station's exterior.

These restraints will be stowed away or placed in other parts of the station so astronauts can use them in future spacewalks.

They will then prepare a part of the ISS for a future solar array installation that will be done in a spacewalk later this year.

Dr Al Neyadi will also be retrieving a radio frequency unit that will eventually be sent back to Earth for repairs.

The unit has a multi-thermal insulation tent over it, so he will spend some of his time removing that.

Mr Bowen will be assisting in removing the hardware.

He will be carried to the voltage side of the radio frequency unit by the station's robotic arm and will use a drill to unscrew the bolts to finally remove the hardware from the station.