Delegates from the US Embassy visit MBRSC

Dubai: On the sidelines of the final stage of interviews for the second batch of the UAE Astronaut Programme, delegates from the US Embassy, including Thomas Ulrich Brechbhul, Counselor of the U.S. Department of State and John Rakolta Jr., U.S. Ambassador to the UAE and Commissioner General of the U.S. pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai visited the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai.

The delegates met with H.E. Yousuf Hamad AlShaibani, Director General of MBRSC and Salem AlMarri, Assistant Director General for Scientific and Technical Affairs and Head of the UAE Astronaut Programme, MBRSC, to discuss collaborations and opportunities to further strengthen the ties for the space sector between the US and the UAE. They also met with the panel conducting the final interviews, comprising of specialists from MBRSC, including Emirati astronauts Hazzaa AlMansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi along with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Jessica Meir.

MBRSC had recently signed a strategic agreement with NASA to train Emirati astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in the US. The two astronauts selected for the second batch of the UAE Astronaut Programme will join the 2021 NASA Astronaut Candidate Class, in which they will receive the training that US space agency’s astronauts undergo. The training programme will prepare Emirati astronauts physically and psychologically for future space missions.

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© Press Release 2020

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