UAE announces first astronauts to go to space

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has selected its first two astronauts to go on a mission to the International Space Station, Dubai´s ruler said Monday.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al-Maktoum named the new astronauts as Hazza al-Mansouri, 34, and 37-year-old Sultan al-Neyadi. Writing on Twitter, he said the duo "raise the bar of ambitions for future Emirati generations". Sheikh Mohammed, the UAE´s vice president and prime minister, last year vowed to send four Emirati astronauts to the space station within five years. The UAE has its sights set on space with a programme worth 20 billion dirhams ($5.4 billion), according to Sheikh Mohammed. The oil-rich Gulf nation has already announced plans to become the first Arab country to send an unmanned probe to orbit Mars by 2021, naming it "Hope".