"My scenario is that of a traveler, and the latter can break his fast," Sultan al-Neyadi replied during a press conference Wednesday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston where he was asked how he was going to observe the holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims generally fast from dawn until sunset.
"Fasting is not obligatory if, for example, one does not feel well," he continued.
"In this regard, anything that may compromise the mission, or could endanger crew members, allows sufficient food to be eaten."
At 41, Sultan al-Neyadi will become the first astronaut from an Arab country to spend six months in space when he flies to the ISS on February 26 aboard a SpaceX spacecraft.
During this mission, he will be alongside the Americans Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg as well as the Russian Andreï Fediaïev who were questioned about the consequences of the tensions on Earth, in particular those in Ukraine, on their journey in space.
"I've been working and training with cosmonauts for over 20 years, and it's always been amazing," said NASA's Stephen Bowen.
"Once in space, there is only one crew, one vehicle and we all have the same goal," he added.
Andrei Fediaev for his part underlined the "very long history" of space cooperation between Russia and the United States.
"People's life in space, on the International Space Station, is really a very good example of how people should live on Earth," said the Russian cosmonaut.
The ISS has been one of the few remaining fields of cooperation between Moscow and Washington since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, launched on February 24, and the Western sanctions that followed.
NASA officials said they are considering a five-day transfer between the new crew and the four members of the previous crew, dubbed Dragon Crew-5, who have been on the ISS since October.
The International Space Station was launched in 1998 at a time of US-Russian cooperation, following the space race the two countries had engaged in during the Cold War.
© 2023 AFP