The UAE's <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/uae-in-space/2023/05/11/sultan-al-neyadi-says-first-arab-spacewalk-was-a-great-responsibility/" target="_blank">Sultan Al Neyadi </a>has learnt to go with the flow on board the International Space Station — including adapting to a whole new way of using water. The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2023/05/06/sultan-al-neyadi-to-return-to-earth-in-late-august/" target="_blank">Emirati astronaut</a> shared a remarkable video on Friday showing how the precious liquid takes shape in a zero-gravity environment. The father-of-six from Al Ain is shown in the social media post squeezing water out of a straw, which then forms into a sphere. He is able to grasp the large blob of water, which wraps around his hand, before he finally bursts the bubble with the help of a hand cloth. As water does not flow freely in the zero-gravity environment of the ISS, installing a shower, tap or sink would be pointless, as the water would float away in the form of droplets. Instead, Dr Al Neyadi uses a wet towel containing body wash to clean himself. To wash his hair, he has to apply shampoo without water and wipe it off with a dry towel. To brush his teeth, he is able to squeeze small amounts of water through a straw to rinse and then swallow. In April, he revealed how water is used to create the clean air that circulates through the space station. “Water is a precious resource in space,” Dr Al Neyadi wrote on Twitter in a message accompanied by pictures of him working on a water recycling tank. “It is used to create clean air by separating oxygen from hydrogen, and it is also recycled to provide a continuous supply of clean water. “In these photos, I'm working on the tank that recycles water, while wearing a PPE kit to prevent contamination. “Ensuring a well-maintained life support system is a key task for astronauts, particularly during long-duration missions.” The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/uae-in-space/2022/07/25/uae-names-astronaut-who-will-spend-six-months-on-international-space-station/">history-making</a> space traveller has offered the public regular glimpses of life aboard the floating science laboratory since embarking on his six-month mission on March 3. Earlier this week, he took part in a live call with space enthusiasts in Mauritius. It was the first live video call outside of the UAE under Dr Al Neyadi's A Call From Space initiative, in which he answers questions from heads of states, pupils and space enthusiasts. He told Eddy Boissezon, acting president of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2023/05/10/sultan-al-neyadi-to-address-pupils-in-mauritius-from-space/">Mauritius</a>, that carrying out the first spacewalk by an Arab astronaut “was a great responsibility” and that he was proud to have completed it successfully. The astronaut completed his first spacewalk on April 28, when he stepped outside of the space station for a seven-hour maintenance assignment.
