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Emirati astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi will leave the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth starting September 1 after living and working aboard the station since docking on March 3, 2023.

“The crew’s SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, named Endeavour, will undock from the space station no earlier than Friday, September 1, splashing down off the coast of Florida,” NASA said.

The UAE astronaut and his fellow crew members, Stephen Bowen, Woody Hoburg, and cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, completed a six-month space mission aboard the ISS. 

The crew contributed to hundreds of experiments and technology demonstrations, including student robotic challenges, plant genetics, and human health in microgravity, to prepare for exploration beyond low Earth orbit and to benefit life on Earth.

Al Neyadi joined as a part of Crew-6, the sixth crew rotation mission with SpaceX for the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.

“Regular commercial crew rotation missions enable NASA to continue the important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the station. Such research benefits people on Earth and lays the groundwork for future human exploration through the agency’s Artemis missions, which will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future expeditions to Mars,” said NASA.