ABU DHABI, UAE: The Abu Dhabi Municipality decorated several bridges around the City to celebrate the return of Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi after a historic six-month space mission.
The light formations have an astronaut with the words Al Emarat on it.
A UAE flag at the top of the decoration drives home the immense pride the Country feels at being at the forefront of space exploration in the region.
On September 04, the UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi returned to Earth from the longest Arab space mission after spending 186 days on the International Space Station (ISS). He also became the first Arab astronaut to perform a spacewalk.
The SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying Sultan Al Neyadi and three fellow astronauts splashed down in the Atlantic, off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, at 08.17am UAE time.
“To celebrate the return of Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, the Abu Dhabi City Municipality decorated a number of bridges on Abu Dhabi Island with illuminated formations and models, as members of the community shared their celebration of the return of the son of the Emirates, who accomplished a pioneering and unprecedented mission on an exceptional journey that lasted for 6 months aboard the space station,” wrote the official X account of Abu Dhabi City.
احتفاءً بعودة رائد الفضاء الإماراتي سلطان النيادي، زينت بلدية مدينة أبوظبي عدداً من الجسور في جزيرة أبوظبي بالتشكيلات والمجسمات المضيئة، مشاركة لأفراد المجتمع احتفالهم بعودة ابن الإمارات الذي أنجز مهمة رائدة وغير مسبوقة في رحلة استثنائية استمرت لمدة 6 أشهر على متن محطة الفضائية. pic.twitter.com/X0gcXvb0bx
— بلدية مدينة أبوظبي (@AbuDhabi_ADM) September 5, 2023