Hazza Al Mansouri made history as the first Emirati astronaut and first Arab aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As expected then people had a lot of questions for him during his question and answers livestream.
Al Mansouri fired up the live stream from the International Space Station and began taking questions from students within the United Arab Emirates. His live stream took place just as the ISS was drifting over the Arabian Peninsula and heading towards Oman. He took questions from the ground station at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC).
All the questions from the live stream have been documented by MBRSC’s official Twitter.
The first Emirati astronaut Hazzaa AlMansoori answering students' inquiries in his second live session from the International Space Station.
.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
AlMansoori: I'm conducting experiments on the effects of microgravity on different organs of the human body and other experiments related to blood vessels. #FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace
— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
AlMansoori: I don't have a lot of free time here, but when I do, I read my favourite book, My Story.
.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
Hazzaa: It’s approximately 22 degrees Celsius and we can adjust the temperature whenever we want.
.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
Hazzaa: At the International Space Station, we carry out experiments in microgravity and compare these results with the results obtained on Earth.
.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
Hazzaa: During my free time, I can communicate with them through special phones and other different means such as e-mail.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace
— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
Hazzaa: Most of the oxygen at the Space Station comes from a process carried out on water.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace
— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
Hazzaa: Learning the Russian language is not easy, but perseverance made it possible. I also taught the crew some words in Arabic.#FirstEmiratiAstronaut#UAEInSpace
— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) September 29, 2019
The astronaut held a similar Q&A on Friday, September 27, again answering a host of questions such how he eats, what he’s working on, and how it feels to see the UAE from space.
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He performs three daily experiments to observe the impact of microgravity on seed germination rates, the growth of aquatic organisms, and the oxidisation rates of steel as well as questions such as time perception in space.
During his most recent question session, he also went over his jam-packed daily routine: The day starts at 6am (GMT). “After which, we are given an opportunity to start our personal activities; where we shower and take care of our personal hygiene. Each astronaut aboard the ISS has a different schedule, but we can cooperate on some missions and work together,” he said.
He will spend eight-days in space, returning to Earth on October 3 at around 1:30 – 3:30 pm GST.
