Washington: Saudi Arabia Sunday made history as its first female astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi launched toward the International Space Station (ISS).
On way towards the International Space Station, Barnawi is accompanied by fellow Saudi citizen Ali Al-Qarni and two other astranauts.
Saudi Arabia Sunday made history as its first female astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi launched toward the International Space Station (ISS).
The astronauts blasted off from the rocket aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida on Sunday.
Rayyanah Barnawi becomes Saudi Arabia's first woman astronaut to go to space pic.twitter.com/Xdx1zNlYoW— Reuters (@Reuters) May 22, 2023
Rayyanah Barnawi becomes Saudi Arabia's first woman astronaut to go to space pic.twitter.com/Xdx1zNlYoW
Barnawi and Al Qarni are expected to land at ISS on Monday where they join fellow Arab astronaut, the UAE’s Sultan Al-Neyadi, currently on the ISS for a six month mission. It will mark the first time astronauts from two Arab countries have met onboard ISS. Hours before the launch, Al-Neyadi sent a good-luck message to Barnawi and Al Qarni on Twitter, according to Saudi Gazette.
"The launch of the private mission voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) was at 12:37 a.m. The Dragon spacecraft will travel for 16 hours to the ISS, with arrival expected at 4:30 p.m. on Monday", the newspaper said.
Rayyanah Barnawi was born in September 1988 in Jeddah. She is a biomedical researcher and the first Saudi female astronaut, selected for Axiom Mission 2 as a Mission Specialist by the Saudi Space Commission; her selection was officially announced on February 12, 2023.
Saudi astronaut Ali Al- Qarni was also selected for Axiom Mission 2 by the Saudi Space Commission. His selection too was officially announced on February 12, 2023 along with Barnawi.
Al-Qarni holds a bachelor's degree in aeronautical sciences from King Faisal Air Academy. He is a captain in the Royal Saudi Air Force, where he pilots F-15SA.
Once docked, the Axiom Space astronauts plan to spend eight days aboard the orbiting laboratory, carrying out a full mission comprised of science, outreach and commercial activities.
During their mission, Barnawi and Al Qarni will conduct 20 experiments, including research into predicting and preventing cancer and a study into how to generate artificial rain in future human settlements on the Moon and Mars.
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