Emirati astronauts to take part in tree-planting ceremony

Al Mansoori and his back-up Sultan Al Neyadi are staying at Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur.

Exactly on this day next week, the UAE will make history as the country's first Emirati astronaut Hazza Al Mansoori will rocket off into space.

September 25, 2019, is set to be a historic date for the nation as Al Mansoori will take the flag to the International Space Station (ISS), where no Arab has ever been before.

Khaleej Times will be reporting live from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, from today and until launch day. This is the city where all astronauts and cosmonauts launch from to reach the ISS.

On September 18, Al Mansoori will be taking part in a tree-planting ceremony, a long-held pre-launch tradition of Russia.

He and his crewmates - American astronaut Jessica Meir and Russian commander Oleg Skripochka - will be doing the tradition at Cosmonaut Alley in Baikonur, a historic location where trees had been planted by astronauts and cosmonauts since 1961.

The 35-year-old former military fighter jet pilot will also be doing manual work on the spacecraft he'll be travelling in with his crew.

Al Mansoori and his back-up Sultan Al Neyadi are staying at Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, which is where all the astronauts stay under quarantine two weeks ahead of the launch.