Home Local News History Created! Saudi Arabia’s Rayyanah Barnawi Becomes First Arab Woman To Reach Space Station  
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History Created! Saudi Arabia’s Rayyanah Barnawi Becomes First Arab Woman To Reach Space Station  

History is created! Arab world’s first female astronaut to go to space has arrived at the International Space Station. Rayyanah Barnawi, 34, a research scientist and Ali Al Qarni, a fighter pilot, have arrived at the station for an eight-day science mission. They became the first Saudi citizens in space since 1985 and joined UAE’s Sultan Al Neyadi in orbit on Monday. Read on for all the deets.

Arabs are dominating the space world at present, and this in itself is a huge deal. In fact, for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is the first human space flight under the kingdom’s new astronaut programme, and the last one took place nearly 40 years ago when Prince Sultan bin Salman returned from space after a week-long trip. And what makes this space flight more historic is that it includes the first Arab woman to go on a space mission.

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Rayyanah Barnawi & Al Qarni Were Welcomed By UAE’s Sultan Al Neyadi

Rayyanah Barnawi, 34, gave an emotional speech during a welcoming ceremony on the ISS. Expressing her emotions, she said that she is representing the homes and dreams of everyone back home and in the region. Furthermore, she also expressed her pride in representing Saudi Arabia at the International Space Station. Having a decade of experience in cancer stem cell research- Ms Barnawi will focus on this area during her research on the ISS. She will be studying the inflammatory response of human immune cells in microgravity.

Playing a crucial role in the mission, Ms Barnawi will partake in several other experiments with her colleague Mr Al Qarni. Together, they will conduct over 20 science and technology experiments, including the repercussions of space on human health and rain-seeding technology. 

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This Launch Is A Historic Moment For Saudi Arabia & Arab World

The crew was welcomed by Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, and he welcomed his Arab colleagues with dates. He had been making preparations for the Saudi astronauts’ arrival for several days and even clicked their pictures on arrival. 

Well, we cannot wait and see what the future holds for Arabs in the space world! 

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