Emirati Sultan al-Neyadi becomes first ever Arab astronaut to perform spacewalk

Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi has officially become the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk.

Watch live: Emirati Sultan al-Neyadi (@astro_alneyadi) onboard the #ISS becomes the first Arab astronaut to perform a #spacewalk. https://t.co/H3pZNpjwlv

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) April 28, 2023

Al-Neyadi, who is currently at the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the longest Arab space mission to date, embarked on the spacewalk – when an astronaut leaves a space ship or space station – at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Hours beforehand, he tweeted his excitement, saying: “Counting down the hours until we pass through the ISS airlock into space. Wearing the spacesuit and proudly bearing the UAE flag on my arm, I will soon by undertaking the Arab world’s first spacewalk. Wish us luck!”

Counting down the hours until we pass through the ISS airlock into space. Wearing the spacesuit and proudly bearing the UAE flag on my arm, I will soon be undertaking the Arab world’s first spacewalk. Wish us luck! 🇦🇪✨ pic.twitter.com/nEkpPGZreK

— Sultan AlNeyadi (@Astro_Alneyadi) April 28, 2023

Only 260 spacewalks have taken place at the orbiting science laboratory since 1998.

Al-Neyadi trained for more than 55 hours at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in preparation for spacewalks.

He blasted into space on March 2 from the United States’ NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of a six-month mission which will carry out experiments ranging from human cell growth in space to controlling combustible materials in microgravity.

Al-Neyadi, 41, is only the second person from his country to fly to space and the first to launch from US soil as part of a long-duration space station team.

He follows in the footsteps of other Arab astronauts including Emirati Hazzaa al-Mansouri who became the first Arab on the ISS in 2019, and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan bin Salman who became the first Arab to travel to space in 1985.

Read more:

UAE’s al-Neyadi to be first ever Arab astronaut to perform spacewalk

Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi sends Eid wishes from space – alongside mascot

Emirati astronaut Sultan al-Neyadi shares clip of zero-gravity workout