UAE’s Sultan Al Neyadi will etch his name in the history books once more by becoming the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk later this month.
The landmark achievement was announced by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, on social media on Thursday.
On April 28, Dr Al Neyadi, 41, will venture outside of the International Space Station with Nasa colleague Stephen Bowen for several hours.
The duo will replace the communication hardware that is installed on the exterior of the orbiting science laboratory.
Only 259 astronauts have floated outside of the ISS since it was launched in 1998, and less than 700 spacewalks have been performed since space exploration began decades ago.
The UAE is the first non-partner country of the ISS that will have one of its astronauts outside the station for a spacewalk.
Previously, only astronauts from countries that have invested in the ISS — the US, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan — have performed spacewalks.
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