Ex-Fighter Pilot Makes Space History

A former fighter pilot from the United Arab Emirates has become the first Arab astronaut on the International Space Station. 

Hazzaa Ali Almansoori smiled broadly and embraced his fellow crew members when he arrived after a six-hour flight on a Russian Soyuz rocket. 

The 35-year-old was one of two selected for the UAE Astronaut Programme out of over 4,000 applicants - having spent time in the UAE Armed Forces, flying F-16 jets.

Alongside NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, and Oleg Skripochka of Russian space agency Roscosmos, Mr Almansoori joined the crew already on the International Space Station: Russians Alexey Ovchinin and Alexander Skvortsov, Nasa astronauts Christina Koch, Nick Hague and Andrew Morgan and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano.

Russia has not revealed how much the United Arab Emirates paid for the privilege of sending Mr Almansoori into space.  

The UAE hopes the eight-day mission will inspire a generation of engineers and scientists to take part in an ambitious space programme.