UAE narrows search for next Emirati astronauts
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center will select two applicants from a shortlist of 61 potential astronauts.
The United Arab Emirates announced on Sunday that 61 candidates had been shortlisted as part of the search for the country's next two astronauts.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center said 61 out of a pool of 4,305 applicants were under consideration following an online test, a virtual interview, and IQ, personality and technical assessments. The remaining applicants are currently undergoing medical testing before another round of interviews.
More than half of the applicants have an engineering background, and the rest have experience in the military, aviation or health care. The two chosen astronauts will join the 2021 NASA astronaut class and train on International Space Station systems at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
“Our ambition to strengthen the UAE's position among leading countries in the space sector is the foundation under which the program was established,” said Yousuf Hamad Al Shaibani, the space center’s director-general.
