Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni are scheduled to return to Earth late Tuesday astronauts after spending eight days on the International Space Station (ISS), where they conducted a series of science experiments.
Barnawi, the first Saudi Arabian and Arab woman to go into space, and AlQarni arrived at the space station on May 22 as part of the private AX-2 mission launched by Axiom Space.
“The four-member multinational astronaut crew is scheduled to undock no earlier than 3:05 p.m. (GMT) Tuesday, May 30, from the space-facing port of the station’s Harmony module in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to begin the journey home and splashdown off the coast of Florida,” a NASA statement said.
“Ax-2 Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, both representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will complete approximately nine days in space at the conclusion of their mission. Their SpaceX Dragon will return to Earth with more than 300 pounds of cargo, including NASA hardware and data from over 20 different experiments,” the statement added.
NASA will provide live coverage of the undocking and departure of AX-2 mission from the ISS, while Axiom Space will live stream the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft’s re-entry and splashdown on the company’s website.
During their eight-day stay at the space station, the Saudi astronauts did a series of experiments, among them a heat transmission study with Saudi students across the Kingdom concerning the space station’s microgravity and earth.
“Results have shown that heat travels slower in space than it does on earth,” a report from state news agency SPA said.
A space kite experiment that involved 12,000 11- to 13-year-old middle school students from 47 schools across Saudi Arabia was also conducted through a live video feed with the space-bound Saudis.
The Ax-2 astronauts on Monday joined the Expedition 69 crew members for a joint farewell ceremony.
In 1985, air force pilot Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz took part in a US-organized space voyage, becoming the first Saudi in space.