First glimpse of the rocket that will take Emirati astronaut Hazza to space

The first stage of a journey to carry an Emirati astronaut to space began with a three hour ride on the back of a train and a spectacular sunrise over rural Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz-FG carrier was unveiled to television crews and journalists near Baikonur Cosmodrome, trundling along the tracks at the start of a mission to the International Space Station.

The train carrying the huge vehicle moved at walking pace for hours as it made its way to Gagarin’s Start, the launch pad that that took the first human to space. The take-off on Wednesday will be the last time the pad is used.

The UAE’s Hazza Al Mansouri will follow in Yuri Gagarin’s footsteps when he is strapped into the Soyuz and blasted into space just before 6pm UAE time.

On Monday, the UAE flag flew proudly at this historic site alongside the Russian and American flags.

The final raising of the Soyuz into its launch position was watched by more than 100 spectators including family and friends of the three astronauts.

The National