The United Arab Emirates has bought a seat for one of its pilots on a space flight for a huge sum, drawing a criticism of the move, contradicting what the country's media are reporting.
Kenneth Chang explains in his report that the UAE has paid a huge amount to Moscow for the opportunity for the pilot of the UAE pilot Hazza al-Mansouri, 35 years, to go into space, like others.
Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, without owning its own spacecraft, bought a seat from the Russian space agency aboard the Soyuz, in the same way wealthy space tourists buy seats on flights to the space station.
That's why NASA says Mansouri is "a participant in space travel" and not a professional astronaut.
He adds that the amount paid was not disclosed, and that Mansouri and his assistant Sultan al-Neyadi were selected from more than 4,000 applicants who wanted to fill the seat of Soyuz.