Hazzaa Al Mansoori poses for media during an event. File

Two months since making history as the first UAE astronaut to travel to space, Hazzaa Al Mansoori has now focused his attention on the UAE's Hope Mission, set to reach the Red Planet on the country's 50th anniversary, making it the ninth country to touch down on the planet.

Al Mansoori is also working on the UAE’s main space mission, the hundred-year programme named 2117 with an objective of sending people to Mars by this date.

In an interview to air on Euronews on Dec.18, Al Mansouri commented on the 2117 mission, adding, "One of the really most challenging things is food security, energy, how we can survive there with the high radiation affecting our bodies. So, all of these challenges that we encounter we have to study them now from here and to build up also a culture of science. Just to mention we will build up like a simulation of habitat here in the UAE. We simulate the living on Mars.

"And with that, we will build up like different buildings, museum and also scientists will be hosted also in this habitat simulation or to study more Mars environment. And definitely just to highlight that the challenges that we'll have onboard the station or also on future on Mars or on moon, that they will also affect us here on ground from food security, energy or how to provide water also."

Commenting on introducing UAE food to the International Space Station and the reaction he received, Al Mansoori said, "I offered them UAE food on board the station. It was amazing for them and interesting because our food, as you know, it has its unique flavour and also spices. So they liked it, actually. And we did a lot of pictures and they liked it.

"And they said that we want to order this more in future. So I hope it will be the permanent." After a year-long training regime in Russia and the Sept.25 voyage to the International Space Station which has made Hazzaa Al Mansoori a well-known name around the world, the UAE’s first astronaut is spearheading the UAE’s future space missions and engaging the UAE youth about the space culture.

WAM