UAE - The Sultan of space is coming home. UAE astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi began his journey to the Earth on Sunday (September 3) after spending six months at the International Space Station (ISS). AlNeyadi, the second UAE astronaut to go to ISS, holds the distinction of the first spacewalk by an Arab astronaut and the longest mission for an Arab person to the ISS.

Along with AlNeyadi, the Crew-6 team includes Nasa astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev onboard the SpaceX Dragon.

Here is a step-by-step guide of how AlNeyadi and fellow astronauts' journey will begin and complete from ISS to landing on Earth:

  • The crew begins preparation to return to the Earth many days before the due date. When embarking on the journey, the crew onboard the ISS bids farewell to the returning members on their 17-hour journey to the Earth.
  • Sultan AlNeyadi and others don their SpaceX spacesuit inside the Dragon spacecraft before the spacecraft undocks from the International Space Station to begin its journey. The spacecraft detaches from the ISS at a very slow pace of around 12-15 centimetres per second.
  • Once the spacecraft reaches a safe distance from ISS, it turns on departure phasing burns to ensure no damage to the Station and the remaining crew. It will encircle the orbit at 28,800 kilometres per hour speed.
  • In the next stage, the trunk is detached from the Dragon spacecraft.
  • As it enters the orbit, the speed slows down dramatically from 28,000 km to around 560 km per hour for a smoother landing.
  • In the next phase, para shoots are deployed just before the touchdown of the spacecraft in order to reduce the impact on the capsule and the crew.
  • Finally, the spacecraft splashes in the Atlantic Ocean near Florida. According to Nasa Space Flight, a recovery vessel is ready to retrieve the crew and the capsule from the Atlantic Ocean with the help of support vessel Megan in the early morning hours of September 4.

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