Hazza Al Mansouri

Hazza Al Mansouri (Arabic: هَزَّاع ٱلْمَنْصُوْرِي ‎, romanized: Hazzāʿ Al-Manṣūrī, surname also spelled "Al Mansoori", full name Hazza Ali Abdan Khalfan Al Mansouri (هَزَّاع عَلِي عَبْدان خَلْفَان ٱلْمَنْصُوْرِي ) is an astronaut and the first person from the United Arab Emirates in space. On September 25, 2019 he launched aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the International Space Station. He landed safely in Kazakhstan after eight days, on October 3, 2019 aboard Soyuz MS-12. Al Mansouri stated that he proudly returned with Zayed' ambition achieved.

On April 12, 2019, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) announced that it had selected Al Mansouri as the prime astronaut for an eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Al Mansouri was assigned to Soyuz MS-15, alongside Russian commander Oleg Skripochka and American flight engineer Jessica Meir, both of whom would remain aboard the ISS for 204 days as part of Expedition 61/62. Unlike Skripochka and Meir, Al Mansouri would land eight days after launch aboard Soyuz MS-12, alongside Russian commander Aleksey Ovchinin and American flight engineer Nick Hague, who would be returning following a 203-day stay on the ISS as part of Expedition 59/Expedition 60.

On 3 October 2019, Al Mansouri, Ovchinin and Hague boarded the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft, and undocked from the ISS, ended Expedition 60 and officially beginning Expedition 61, the three spent around five hours free flying in space before de-orbiting and touching down on the Kazakh Steppe, following witch Ovchinin and Al Mansouri were flown to Star City, Russia, before Al Mansouri began his journey back to the UAE

Flying through an agreement between the UAE and Russian governments, Hazza's role aboard the Soyuz and the ISS is referred to as a spaceflight participant (Russian: uchastnik kosmicheskovo poleta ) in Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA documents and press briefings. NASA has updated the terminology post the return of the mission to earth on October 3, 2019, and referred to Hazzaa as a visiting astronaut. The Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre refers to his mission as "UAE Astronaut Mission 1" or "Zayed's Ambition".

On September 3, 2018, Sheikh Mohammed tweeted: “We announced today our first astronauts to the International Space Station: Hazza Al Mansoori and Sultan Al Nayadi. Hazza and Sultan represent all young Arabs and represent the pinnacle of the UAE's ambitions.”

On December 6, 2017, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum wrote on his Twitter account, "I invite young Emiratis to register for the UAE Astronaut Programme through the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre." Al Mansoori was one of two people selected from 4,022 candidates, following a series of tests in the UAE and Russia. His military background helped him pass the tests.

In 2016, he was selected to train to be an air-show pilot. In 2017, he took part in the Dubai Airshow 2017 and participated in different shows in a number of cities in the UAE to mark the UAE National Day on December 2 (The National Day of the UAE) 2017.

Al Mansouri married in July 2007 and has four children: Mariam, Ali, Abdullah, and Mansour. He took a United Arab Emirates flag and a photo of his family with him to space.

After graduating from Al Seddique High School in Liwa, Al Dhafra Region (previously known as the Western Region), Al Mansouri studied at Khalifa bin Zayed Air College, graduating in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in aviation.

Al Mansouri was born on December 13, 1983 in the Abu Dhabi suburb of Al Wathba. In his childhood, Hazza loved exploring and watching stars and meteors on dark nights in the desert of Liwa where he spent most of his childhood. He dreamed of being a pilot and loved to read about airplanes and space trips.