In October of this year, Al Mansouri made history and worldwide headlines by becoming the first Emirati and Arab in space after blasting from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur space centre aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket.
The mission – which he described as a “dream” – was described by Dubai Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as a “message to all the Arab youth that we can move forward and move forward and catch up with others.”
He took a UAE flag and a photo of his family with him to space.
Recently, Al Mansouri has shifted his focus on the UAE’s next major space mission – the Hope Mission – which is aimed at reaching Mars on the UAE’s 50th anniversary, making it the ninth country to touch down on the planet. Additionally, Al Mansouri is also working on a longer-term, 100-year project which plans to put humans on Mars by the year 2117.
Prior to blasting off into space, Al Mansouri flew F-16 fighter jets for the UAE Air Force, and participated in the Dubai Airshow and a number of other events.
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