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Updated March 24th, 2023 at 18:06 IST

UAE astronaut marks Ramadan in Space, but 16 sunsets per day make fasting unlikely

UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi entered the International Space Station on March 3 as part of the Crew-6 mission which launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
Ramadan on ISS
Part of the Crew-6 mission, Al-Neyadi is the first Arab astronaut to visit the ISS for a six-month-long mission; Image: Twitter//Astro_Alneyadi | Image:self
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UAE astronaut Sultan Al-Neyadi is aboard the International Space Station (ISS) at a time when the Islamic world is observing the holy month of Ramadan. Al-Neyadi arrived at the orbiting lab on March 3 after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Part of the Crew-6 mission, Al-Neyadi is the first Arab astronaut to visit the ISS for a six-month-long mission and the second astronaut to visit the ISS from the middle east after Hazza Al-Mansoori in 2019. Celebrating his first festival in space, Al-Neyadi extended his greeting from the space station with a stunning video featuring "a beautiful night time scenery." 

Ramzan or Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar during which Muslims worldwide refrain from eating and drinking anything from dawn to dusk and end their fast in the evening. After the end of one month of fasting, Muslims celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr. But Al-Neyadi might not be able to observe the fast like his fellow Muslims on Earth due to his mission and the fact that he needs proper nutrition to function in microgravity. Another interesting reason is more than a dozen sunrise and sunsets that astronauts witness each day. ISS as we know it completes 16 orbits in a day and thus its residents travel through 16 sunrises and sunsets. 

Al-Neyadi puts mission first

While preparing for the Crew-6 mission, Al-Neyadi told reporters during a briefing on January 25 that he will have to maintain a proper meal schedule and not engage in activities that could jeopardise the mission. During a Q&A session, however, he said that he might observe fast on some days. Notably, Al-Neyadi is the not the first Muslim to visit space during Ramadan. This record belongs to Prince Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia who visited the ISS on June 17, 1985, as part of the STS-51G toward the end of the holy month. 

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Published March 24th, 2023 at 17:25 IST

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