Dubai, UAE – The next edition of ‘A Call from Space’, an exclusive event featuring Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi is being held in Ras Al Khaimah today at 2 PM. So far five editions of the event have been held, four of them across the UAE and the one in Mauritius. . .
The event will take place at Higher Colleges of Technology in Ras Al Khaimah Women’s Campus.
The event will provide invitation-only attendees from schools, universities and government entities in Ras Al Khaimah the opportunity to interact live with AlNeyadi, who is currently on the International Space Station (ISS) undertaking the longest Arab space mission in history. They will also have the chance to learn about AlNeyadi’s experiences and ask him questions about life in space.
Close to 5,500 people have taken part in the past five editions of the event, giving attendees a glimpse in to AlNeyadi’s life on the ISS and the opportunity to interact with him.
The first event in the series was held at the Dubai Opera, followed by the second for media at the Museum of the Future. The third edition was held in Mauritius, while the fourth session was held at the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. The last session that took place on June 7 was a special medical science edition held at MBRU in Dubai.
AlNeyadi has been on the ISS for more than three months now, marking a significant milestone in Arab space exploration. Over the course of his mission, he has gone on to conduct several scientific experiments, performed maintenance work and even aided in the relocation of the Dragon spacecraft.
During his current mission, AlNeyadi also became the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk. The spacewalk, which was performed alongside astronaut Stephen Bowen, spanned 7 hours and 1 minute and involved skilfully executing a number of preparatory tasks, which included routing power cables and laying the groundwork for the upcoming installation of the ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (iROSA).
Established in 2006, the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) started out with five engineers. Since then, the centre has continued its journey to be the incubator of the “UAE National Space Programme”. The MBRSC has undertaken the tasks of building, developing, and operating a number of Earth observation satellites, providing imaging services, analysing and studying them, as well as producing relevant data to scientific communities and research centres around the world.
Among the satellites that the centre operates are DubaiSat-1 & DubaiSat-2. The MBRSC is also responsible for KhalifaSat, celebrated as the first satellite that was fully built by Emiratis in 2018. Recently, the centre revealed its plan to develop the new satellite MBZ-SAT, which is expected to be launched at the end of 2023 and to be the latest in the field of high-resolution imaging from outer space.