Saudi Arabia to send its first woman astronaut into space

Saudi Arabia to send its first woman astronaut into space: A Saudi Arabian woman will become the first woman astronaut from the country to go on a space mission later this year, AFP reported.

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Rayyana Barnawi will join fellow Saudi astronaut Ali Al-Qarni on a 10-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Barnawi and Al-Qarni will fly to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of a mission this spring by the private space company Axiom Space, according to Saudi Press Agency and Axiom. Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, will also be on board for her fourth flight to the ISS. Meanwhile, John Shoffner, a Tennessee businessman, will be the pilot. The Ax-2 mission will be launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The crew will be launched into space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Neighbouring United Arab Emirates had become the first Arab country to send woman astronaut Noura Al-Matrooshi into space in 2021.