UAE's First Astronaut Sets Out for Home After ISS Stay

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft undocked from the International Space station on October 3, carrying the United Arab Emirates’s first astronaut and two other astronauts back to earth.

Hazzaa al-Mansoori set out for the station on September 25, spending just over a week on board as a visiting astronaut. “I proudly watched as Hazza al-Mansoori lifted off into space,” tweeted Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi, de facto leader of the UAE, on that date.

NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin were also making the return trip to Earth after extended stays aboard the station.

The Soyuz craft was expected to touch down in Kazakhstan. Credit: International Space Station via Storyful