UAE’s historic space mission: SpaceX astronauts ready for blast off

UAE astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi will blast off into space on Thursday in what will be the Arab world's longest space mission.

SpaceX engineers are currently making final adjustments to the spacecraft ahead of lift-off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on Thursday, 9.34am GST, NASA said on its live feed.

Go for launch!
Watch #Crew6 blast off to the @Space_Station in @SpaceX's Dragon Endeavour spacecraft. The upcoming launch attempt is scheduled for 12:34am ET (0534 UTC) on Thursday, March 2. https://t.co/1fsIeMlQyY

— NASA (@NASA) March 2, 2023

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NASA and SpaceX have given the green light for the launch date, and said that they have resolved a technical issue with the Falcon 9 rocket that prevented the first Crew-6 launch attempt on Monday.

A Falcon 9 rocket is readied before launch on NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission, which will take four crew members to the International Space Station, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 26, 2023. (Reuters)

The ground issue was with a ignition fluid known as triethylaluminum triethylboron (TEA-TEB), which is used to started the rocket's Merlin engines.

A clogged filter was preventing the fluid from being properly filled into the necessary compartments.

Sultan al-Neyadi will be the primary astronaut for the first long-duration Arab astronaut mission. (Supplied: WAM)

SpaceX removed propellant from the Falcon 9 rocket and the crew safely exited the Dragon spacecraft.

SpaceX has now replaced the filter with a new one and said they are ready to launch Crew-6

“After a thorough review of the data and ground system, both NASA and SpaceX teams identified a clogged filter on the ground as the cause. SpaceX teams replaced the filter, purged the TEA-TEB line with nitrogen, and verified the lines are clean and ready for the next launch attempt,” said NASA.

The Crew-6 launch will carry two NASA astronauts, Mission Commander Stephen Bowen and Pilot Warren Hoburg, along with the UAE’s Sultan al-Neyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, who will serve as mission specialists for a space station science expedition.

This is the sixth crew rotation mission using the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the orbiting laboratory as part of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. This Dragon is named Endeavour.

Salem Al Marri, Director-General of Dubai's Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), said long-duration space missions play a crucial role in “advancing our understanding of space and our ability to explore and utilize it in the future.”

He added: “Five years down the line, we have not only flown the first Emirati astronaut Hazzaa al-Mansoori to space, but are also set to send Sultan al-Neyadi, from the first batch of the UAE Astronaut Program, into space for a period of six months.”

Read more:

Last-minute technical problem keeps SpaceX rocket, astronauts grounded

UAE announces details of first long-duration Arab astronaut mission

Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi grapples with Ramadan fast while in orbit