An astronaut from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to make history as the first Arab to undertake a spacewalk.

Flight engineer Sultan Al Neyadi will join Nasa astronaut Steve Bowen on a nearly seven-hour-long spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) this afternoon.

The duo will attempt to retrieve an antenna outside the ISS that will be returned back to Earth.

The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 2.15pm BST to upgrade the space station’s power generation system, according to Nasa.

‘Being chosen as the first Arab astronaut to undertake a spacewalk alongside Nasa astronaut Stephen Bowen is a great honour and responsibility,’ said Al Neyadi on Twitter.

Fitness evaluations and robotic tests rounded out the schedule aboard the orbital outpost on Thursday.

This will be Bowen’s eighth career spacewalk, and the fourth of 2023.

Al Neyadi is the first Emirati working aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where he will be staying for the next few months.

Being chosen as the first Arab astronaut to undertake a spacewalk alongside NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen is a great honour and responsibility.

I am eagerly awaiting this historic moment, for which I have trained extensively at the Johnson Space Center. I am looking forward to… pic.twitter.com/AdLnZxeyaJ

— Sultan AlNeyadi (@Astro_Alneyadi) April 6, 2023

He is only the 11th Muslim astronaut to go to space. In 2007, Malaysian astronaut Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor became the first practising Muslim aboard the ISS.

Two cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin are preparing for the next spacewalk, planned for May 3.

You can watch the historic spacewalk, which will be broadcast live, on Nasa TV, as well as the space agency’s website. The live feed will begin this afternoon at 12.45pm BST.

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