Hazza Al Mansouri, UAE’s first Emirati astronaut to go on a space mission to the ISS this September, together with his crew underwent technical simulations as part of gauging their abilities to handle emergencies in space.
It’s no secret that astronauts and ground control are at risk to a variety of unexpected scenarios that could happen in space – this is why they do not leave anything to chance. As such, they follow a plan to ensure the survival of astronauts and to preserve assets like the ISS, which is arguably mankind’s greatest feat of engineering to date.
UAE Astronaut Completes 2-day Simulation Tests with Flying Colours
As part of his preparations for his ISS mission on September 25, Hazza Al Mansouri underwent two days of simulation tests to prepare for every possible emergency scenario, and to ensure that contingency plans are perfectly in place to overcome any situation that may arise on-board, as shared in a report by Gulf News.
One of the crucial parts of the simulation tests was the reaction speed in emergencies, which the two teams of astronauts preparing for the ISS mission to the ISS went through at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC) in Star City, Russia on August 30 and 31.
Officials from the GCTC revealed that the Prime Crew led by Russian Commander Oleg Skripochka with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori received a perfect score for their Thursday exam on the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) – a feat that is not easy to achieve.
The main and backup crews for the September 25 mission to the ISS completed their first day of the final tests. Today, the main crew will undergo a final exam on the Soyuz flight and the backup crew will be evaluated on the Russian segment of @Space_Station pic.twitter.com/ErtKOfUzvO
— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) August 30, 2019
Meanwhile, the final exam was for the Soyuz and Russian segment qualifications to determine how well the prime and backup astronauts have mastered the controls to operate the spacecraft and the Russian Orbital Segment of the International Space Station (ISS).
The test was part of the crucial preparations for their trip onboard a Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft that will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25.
This will determine the crew’s spaceflight readiness as they operate the Soyuz simulator, a full mockup of the spacecraft that will rocket them to space on September 25.
Officials from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) were in attendance to support Hazza during the exams.
For his part, Salem Al Merri, Assistant Director-General of MBRSC and head of the UAE Astronaut Programme shared that “everything is going as planned”.
He added that the crew were in high spirits, working excellent as a unit of three, well trained and prepared for the Soyuz complex exam simulation and for the ISS complex exam simulation.
“All the training and preparation over the past year will support them to successfully go through all the scenarios in the simulations,” Al Merri closed.
With less than a month to finalize their preparations, everyone from the UAE is keeping their hopes up for the success of the very first Emirati astronaut to be rocketed to space.
ALSO READ: UAE Space Agency Explores Possibility of Farming Palm Trees on Mars
