Today, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center announced the success of Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi and the crew of Crew-6 in their mission to restore the SpaceX Dragon’s docking station to the International Space Station.
This was the third move to move the Dragon from one port to another as this task was only repeated twice during the Crew-1 and Crew-2 missions.
Al-Neyadi participated in this mission, along with his colleagues on the Crew-6 crew, which traveled aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 69; They are Stephen Bowen (NASA), Warren Hoberg (NASA), Andriy Fedayov (Roscosmos).
The mission began at exactly 3:23 pm UAE time, the crew began the process of detaching the vehicle from the space-facing upper port on the International Space Station, and after several maneuvers that took about 38 minutes, the crew succeeded in reattaching the vehicle to the front port of the airport.Space International, At 4:01 pm UAE time.
Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the SpaceX Control Center in Hawthorne, California supported the mission with follow-up by the MBRSC team.
The process of evacuating the upper port of the station facing the space will contribute; To facilitate the docking of the next Dragon cargo shuttle, scheduled for launch next June, payload no. 28 will carry to the International Space Station, including foldable solar arrays, or IROSAs; In preparation for installing it on the station through several space missions.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Crew-6 crew checked the pressure suits they wore during their short trip inside the Dragon spacecraft. The crew reviewed transportation procedures, checked the vehicle’s openings and configured its cabin; To ensure smooth completion of work.
Commenting on Al Neyadi’s participation in the mission, UAE Astronaut Saeed Domo 2 Mission Director Adnan Al Mohandas said: “Sultan Al Neyadi and the crew of Crew-6 were successful in moving the Dragon spacecraft from a port. Another one on the International Space Station was a new record for Mission 69. We are committed to supporting the scientific goals of the International Space Station, and we are also working to support its ongoing maintenance. We look forward to the successes of the longest space mission in Arab history in the coming months, joint ventures and more innovative experiments that will benefit humanity in the field of space exploration.
Sultan Al Neyadi joined American astronaut Stephen Bowen on April 28 as one of the main goals of the mission, which lasted 7 hours and 1 minute, becoming the first Arab to travel into space. A series of preparatory works for the installation of solar panels were to be worked on, which were successfully accomplished.
For the past week, Al Neyadi and Bowen have been working together in Destiny’s lab, working on life support equipment. The two astronauts took turns collecting water samples and replacing components in Destiny’s oxygen production system.
It is noteworthy that the UAE Astronaut Program managed by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center is one of the projects funded by the Information and Communication Technology Fund of the Communications and Digital Government Authority. Department of Information and Communication Technology.
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