A UAE astronaut who is to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) in September has asked to provide him with national dishes during his stay on the station.
According to chief cook Aisha at-Tamimi, the two candidates for the flight chose the dishes last Autumn; among five dishes they chose: saloona, madrubah ,and balaleet.
On 20 June 2018, the Russian space corporation said that a preliminary deal had been signed between the company and the Dubai-based Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) to provide services for one UAE astronaut to fly to the ISS.
Nine UAE candidates subsequently arrived in Russia for medical tests. Two of them – a future cosmonaut and a backup — were selected for further training and a future start that was preliminarily scheduled for April 2019.
