Sultan Al Neyadi stays busy with two months to go on historic space voyage

The Emirati astronaut is due to return to Earth in August, having made his mark in space

Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi speaks to students at UAE University in Al Ain on a live call from the International Space Station on May 23. Ryan Lim/The National

Dr Al Neyadi with the mission's commander, Stephen Bowen, on February 23, days before their flight to the ISS. Sarwat Nasir / The National

Dr Al Neyadi on March 4, a day after he arrived on the ISS. Photo: MBRSC

Dr Al Neyadi on March 7, holding small tomatoes grown on the ISS. Photo: Nasa

Dr Al Neyadi on March 16.

Dr Al Neyadi in front of the cupola on March 14. Photo: Nasa

UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi is entering the final weeks of his historic mission on the International Space Station.

He arrived on the orbiting outpost on March 3 to carry out the Arab world's longest space mission and is due to return in mid-August.

Since arriving, Dr Al Neyadi has completed several scientific experiments, and performed the first spacewalk by an Arab astronaut when he ventured outside into the darkness of space for an eight-hour maintenance assignment.

His schedule for his remaining two months in space is jam-packed, including carrying out maintenance tasks and research work sent by universities in the UAE.

He spent some of Friday doing plumbing work on the space station.

According to Nasa, on Friday Dr Al Neyadi "assisted the Nasa astronauts with the cargo packing job then worked on orbital plumbing tasks throughout the morning".

In the afternoon, he powered up and activated Astrobee, a free-flying robot that helps astronauts with different tasks.

Students from UAE universities earlier used the robot to perform maneouvres as part of a competition.

"Congratulations to the team from Khalifa University for winning first place in the UAE Zero Robotics Programming Challenge, which took place aboard the space station," said Salem Al Marri, director general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre.

"This challenge proved that our youth are talented, innovative and full of ambition. They are a pivotal partner in Sultan Al Neyadi's mission."

Teams from the UAE University, American University in Dubai, Abu Dhabi's Higher Colleges of Technology and the University of Sharjah also took part.

On Wednesday, Dr Al Neyadi took part in a human health study.

"UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi strapped sensors to himself to monitor his breathing volume and blood pressure while he pedaled on an exercise bike for the CARDIOBREATH human research study," Nasa said.

The research is aimed to help scientists learn more about how exercising in microgravity conditions affects different aspects of health.

He also completed an experiment for a study into how fuels behave in microgravity, which could help improve spacecraft and satellite performance.

As part of another study, he researched proteins in collaboration with Japanese space agency Jaxa.

"I did the Protein Crystal Growth experiment to study a protein associated with many health conditions, including epilepsy, which could lead to effective treatments," Dr Al Neyadi tweeted on Thursday.

"Thanks to the MBR University team who proposed it and all partners who contributed."

Sultan Al Neyadi in space - in pictures