UAE's first analog astronaut completes 8-month mission

The UAE has created another milestone in space study, after the country’s first analog astronaut Saleh Al Ameri completed an eight-month isolation mission on Sunday.

He stepped out of the isolation facility in Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems at 01:00 pm (local time).

Al Ameri conducted 70 experiments and studied the effects of long-term isolation and confinement on human psychology and physiology.

Analog astronaut Saleh AlAmeri and the SIRIUS-21’s crew exit the isolated facility after completing the mission successfully.#UAEAnalogMission #FromEarthForSpace@tdrauae pic.twitter.com/yWxN5gsZ14

— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) July 3, 2022

Analog astronaut Saleh AlAmeri's first words upon completing the first UAE Analog Mission as part of the Scientific International Research in the Unique Terrestrial Station (SIRIUS-21).#UAEAnalogMission#FromEarthForSpace@tdrauae pic.twitter.com/0YgzJh1XsR

— MBR Space Centre (@MBRSpaceCentre) July 3, 2022

Just days before he left the facility, Al Ameri spoke exclusively to ARN News about how the experiments he's carrying out there will benefit the UAE. 

Other crew members of the Sirius-21 crew included Russian commander Oleg Blinov, American flight engineer Ashley Kowalski, Russian researcher Ekaterina Karyakina, Russian Flight Surgeon Victoria Kirichenko and American researcher William Brown.

Analog missions play a significant role in spaceflight research by simulating space-like conditions on Earth.