Hours before the first Emirati astronaut’s scheduled lift-off into space, everyone in the UAE is all pumped to witness this historic event.
Here’s a glimpse of how Hazzaa Al Mansoori’s will live day by day once he reached the International Space Station.
Before the launch
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), astronauts usually are strapped inside a Soyuz capsule two and a half hours before the scheduled launch. They do a series of pre-flight checks with the Soyuz system, similar to what usually pilots do when they also prepare to take off.
Once they’re done, they will have to wait until the workers in the launchpad finish the final rocket preparations.
The Soyuz MS-15 manned spacecraft is is now positioned on the launch site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Al Mansoori is also accompanied by Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka as Commander and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir as Flight Engineer 1.
The destination
They will stay aboard the International Space Station or ISS which is a permanent laboratory 400 kilometers above the surface of the Earth where gravity has been virtually eliminated.
Some 200 astronauts already visited the ISS, but Al Mansoori will be the first Arab to visit the floating laboratory.
Once an astronaut is there, he/she will be able to witness 16 sunrises and sunset per 14 hours.
During the launch
Like riding an airplane, the noises from below the launch pad will signal that things are getting ready to happen. Inside the Soyuz capsule, they hear and feel the thumping and bumping of valves opening and closing as engine systems are pressurized.
Unlike any airplane ride, the rumbling and shaking of the spacecraft will grow louder while they slowly ascend and move away from the launch pad.
An astronaut will hear at least five bangs; first when the rescue system is jettisoned and then after the boosters separate. The third bang happens when the nose faring comes off. The fourth bang will be after the g-load drops immediately.
Eight and a half minutes after launch, they will hear a fifth loud bang after the last section of the rocket is jettisoned from the Soyuz spacecraft.
After blast-off
Did you know that the longest space station mission of the U.S. record was that of NASA astronaut Mike Lopez-Alegria? He stayed there for about 215 days.
Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov meanwhile was the longest for Russia with 437 days in space during one mission.
But the shortest space mission was at two days.
The perfect space food
Since there’s no refrigerator, no microwave, no stove, or no freezer, astronauts usually bring the cooked, then freeze-dried and vacuum-packed or thermally stabilized food.
For Al Mansoori, his meals were packed for the daily menu. No food with crumbs is brought in space in order to avoid the crumbs to float all over the place and possibly clog up the equipment.
NASA said, astronauts, consider peanut butter as the nearly perfect space food.
How will they sleep?
In space, astronauts do float while sleeping. So, astronauts usually have sleeping bags that are strapped into the sleeping quarters to stop them from floating while asleep while others tie themselves to a wall.
Need to poo, where do they go?
To keep from floating away, an astronaut uses foot-loops or straps while ‘sitting’ on the seat. When the astronaut is done, the space potty uses suction, not water, to ‘flush’.
During spare time
They can ask mission control to send them shows that they can watch during dinner or off-duty time. They can also watch movies on their laptops. They can also read books, listen to music, or play with their musical instruments.
But most importantly, an astronaut can marvel and look out the window to admire the beautiful Earth below.
Only a few more hours to go before the launch! Don’t miss to watch it between 4:30 PM to 6:30 PM later.
