The Emirati astronauts Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammad Al Mulla are on schedule with their rigorous training regimen as part of NASA’s 2021 astronaut candidate class training programme. Both have been doing spacewalks training at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas.

AlMatrooshi and AlMulla’s training in the NBL, the largest indoor pool in the world used for simulated spacewalk training, is an essential step on the road to completing their astronaut training.

This comes after a recent series of demanding exercises, including survival training at Alabama’s Fort Novosel and a thorough orientation at the Marshall Space Flight Centre in the USA. Preparing astronauts for space missions requiring Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) or spacewalks is the NBL’s main duty. Al Matrooshi and Al Mulla are currently receiving training in the bowels of the enormous structure, which is 202 feet long, 102 feet wide, and 40 feet deep, to learn the complex procedures required for space travel.

This training emphasises neutral buoyancy, which replicates the weightlessness felt in space. The equipment enables humans to become neutrally buoyant, simulating the effects of microgravity in space and enabling the operation of huge objects. The NBL now offers the most precise training environment on Earth for spacewalks.

Al Matrooshi and Al Mulla, who are a part of the UAE Astronaut Programme’s second group, were selected by NASA along with 10 other applicants from a pool of more than 12,000 for the 2021 astronaut class. The UAE’s aspirational aim for space exploration is reflected in the astounding determination and will of the two Emirati astronauts. They will join an elite group of flight-eligible astronauts who are prepared for space missions when they graduate in early 2024.

One of the projects under the UAE’s National Space Programme managed by MBRSC and funded by the ICT Fund of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) is the UAE Astronaut Programme. The fund’s objectives are to support research and development in the ICT sector in the UAE and promote the country’s integration on the global stage.