UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi has shared an image of Saudi Arabia from space ahead of the expected arrival of two Saudi citizens on the International Space Station.
Rayyanah Barnawi, who is set to become the first Saudi woman in space, and Ali Al Qarni are due to launch on May 22, at 1.27am GST, from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
This means there will be three Arabs in space together at the same time – a record number.
“Following in Prince Sultan bin Salman Al Saud's pioneering footsteps, two Saudi astronauts will launch on their first mission to the ISS and three Arab astronauts will be in space together,” Dr Al Neyadi tweeted on Sunday, along with the image of the kingdom.
“As we wish them a great launch, here's a recent view of Saudi Arabia I took.”
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Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al Qarni, with their crew Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner pose for photo ahead of their mission to the International Space Station from Florida in this photo released on May 20, 2023. Saudi Press Agency -
The Axiom 2 crew is launching to the ISS on May 21, 5.37pm ET (May 22, 12.37am GST), for an eight-day trip. Saudi Press Agency -
Saudi astronaut Ali Al Qarni in a Tesla vehicle during a launch dress rehearsal on May 20, 2023. AFP / Axiom Space -
From left, Axiom 2 crew members Ali Al Qarni of Saudi Arabia, Peggy Whitson and John Shoffner of the US and Rayyanah Barnawi of Saudi Arabia. All photos: Axiom Space, unless stated otherwise -
Ms Barnawi in her SpaceX suit. The crew will travel to the International Space Station for an eight-day trip on May 22 -
Mr Al Qarni gets suited up for spaceflight -
Ms Barnawi trains inside a mock-up of the ISS -
Mr Al Qarni learns about how the crew will drink water on the ISS -
The Saudi astronauts train with American crewmates Ms Whitson and Mr Shoffner -
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives Ms Barnawi. Reuters -
The crew members on the launch tower at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida -
Mr Al Qarni during a training session for his trip to the ISS -
Ms Barnawi trains for the mission -
The crew hang patches celebrating their mission before the launch -
Ms Barnawi trains with Ms Whitson -
A lively demonstration during a crew training session
Prince Sultan became the first Arab in space when he launched on Nasa's Space Shuttle in 1985.
But the kingdom did not set up a long-term space programme after his return.
Saudi Arabia has recently renewed its interest in space exploration, having announced a sustainable astronaut programme last year.
Ms Barnawi and Mr Ali Al Qarni are the first Saudis to go to space since Prince Sultan's trip nearly 40 years ago.
They are expected to do 14 experiments assigned to them by Saudi researchers, and Dr Al Neyadi has been making preparations to welcome them.
On Friday, he spent the afternoon reviewing procedures and training on a computer for the approach and docking of the Saudis' Ax-2 mission.
He also set up computers in the cupola, the observatory on the space station, and the Destiny laboratory module, both of which will help to support the Ax-2 mission's arrival.
Last month, Dr Al Neyadi and his colleagues relocated a Dragon spacecraft to another docking port on the ISS to help free up a parking spot for Ax-2 and a cargo mission arriving in June.
