With his 7.01-hour spacewalk on Expedition 69, UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi became the first Arab to leave the International Space Station. Routing electricity cables was one of the preparation jobs that needed to be accomplished as part of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA), which was successful.
A series of inspections were conducted before the spacewalk to guarantee the astronauts' security. As the surrounding environment in space can reach scorching temperatures of up to 120 degrees Celsius in the sunlight and fall as low as -150 degrees Celsius when the sun is out of sight, Sultan Al-Neyadi and Bowen had to contend with two major challenges: radiation and extreme temperatures.
Sultan Al-Neyadi will soon have spent two months in space after being launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral on March 2. Sultan Al-Neyadi carried out several tests during his second month.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre oversees the UAE Astronaut Programme, a Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority-funded initiative within the UAE's National Space Programme. It seeks to promote ICT sector research and development in the UAE and strengthen the nation's integration into the global economy.