Space mission: The ruler of Dubai finally does what Indira Gandhi did in 1984

The ruler of Dubai has finally done what India's former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi did almost four decades ago, in April 1984. UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Tuesday spoke to the country's astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who made his first public call to Earth from aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Sultan Al Neyadi, the first Arab astronaut, is on a 6-month long mission on the International Space Station. After the conversation, the Dubai ruler said Al Neyadi opens new doors for Emirati youth, "raises the ceiling for the aspirations of our generations, and represents a bright part of our future".

Almost four decades ago, Indira Gandhi had a similar phone call with Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma, who in 1984 became the first Indian to travel in space as part of a joint effort between ISRO and then the Soviet Union. This was the same phone call in which Sharma, while responding to a question from Gandhi on how the country looks like from above, uttered an immortal line - "Saare jahaan se achha".

"Upar se Bharat kaisa dikhta hai aapko?" (What does India look like from up there?) Indira Gandhi had asked Rakesh Sharma. To which, he replied in Hindi, "I can say without any hesitation, saare jahaan se achha."

During the nearly 6-minute call, Gandhi had enquired about Sharma's training, his health in space, and whether he had any message to the people on Earth. She had also said that Sharma's historic feat had great significance for increasing humankind's knowledge of the mysteries of outer space and would inspire young minds to be more adventurous.    

Today, during their phone call, the Dubai ruler and the astronaut also talked about the significance of the mission, training, and scientific experiments. 

UAE's The National News reported that Al Neyadi smiled at the camera as Sheikh Mohammed spoke to him from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. "We are thankful you have reached the International Space Station and thank God for your safety," Sheikh Mohammed said. "I would like to let you know that the youth of the UAE and the Arab world are taking you as an example and wish you all the luck."

Al Neyadi thanked the ruler and said: "Hopefully people will follow in the footsteps of my brother (Hazza Al Mansouri) and mine. This is what we hoped for." Major Al Mansouri was the UAE's first astronaut. He was present with the Dubai Ruler today during the call with Al Neyadi.

Sheikh Mohammed then asked the astronaut what kinds of experiments he and the team would be performing on the ISS. Al Neyadi said the team has a very "crowded schedule" and has "a large number of scientific experiments" to carry out. "One of the scientific experiments is us, Your Highness. Astronauts in microgravity are also subjects of experiments. One day people will go to the Moon and Mars," the astronaut was quoted as saying by The National News.  

"We have to understand the effects of microgravity on our bodies. This is one of the experiments that we conduct on a daily basis. We monitor the impact and the effects of space on our bodies so we can avoid this in the future."

In all, Al Neyadi took 17 questions from the audience. Responding to a question on how he keeps himself entertained, the Emirati astronaut said: "For me, the biggest entertainment is floating. Floating is amazing."

Maj Al Mansouri, who was with Sheikh Mohammed, was asked what it was like to return to Earth after being in space. "It is one of the difficult things. You need up to two weeks to get used to walking again," Al Mansouri said. He also emphasised that they can monitor Dr Al Neyadi's position and see when he is passing over the UAE.

"We have all these cameras outside the ISS, our colleagues are all here monitoring Dr Sultan," Al Mansouri said. "We have a whole crew whose main mission is to follow Dr Sultan and monitor his mission."

Al Neyadi will spend six months in Earth's orbit and will take part in more than 200 experiments assigned by NASA.