Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri hails 'historic' first all-female spacewalk

Major Al Mansouri has praised the achievements of Nasa astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir

epa07867806 (L-R) Members of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 61/62, UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir leave a hotel during the send-off ceremony before the launch of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, 25 September 2019. The launch of the mission of members of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 61/62 is scheduled on 25 September from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Mansouri will be the first Emirati in space.  EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
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Hazza Al Mansouri has hailed a pair of fellow astronauts for floating into the record books - by embarking on the first all-female spacewalk.

Maj Al Mansouri, who carved out his own place in history by becoming the UAE's maiden astronaut, marked a 'special day' by lauding the achievements of Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, who was a crew mate on his own recent journey to the International Space Station.

The Nasa astronauts ventured out of the ISS at about 3.50pm on Friday (UAE time) to replace a power controller that failed during the weekend.

The mission is expected to take several hours to complete.

Maj Al Mansouri said the milestone spacewalk was an 'historic achievement'.

The occasion is momentous because, although it is the 221st spacewalk performed by astronauts aboard the ISS, Ms Meir will become only the 15th woman in history to carry out the duty, with Ms Koch having accomplished the task previously.

Nasa has stated its intention to put the first woman on the Moon by 2024.