Skip to main content

SpaceX sends Saudi Arabia’s first female astronaut into space

SpaceX has launched the first female Saudi Arabian astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi into space on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher, became the first woman from the kingdom to go to space, and along with fighter pilot Ali al-Qarni, she will be the first Saudi Arabian to visit the ISS. Blasting off from Kennedy Space Center, the crew included a US businessman and a retired NASA astronaut who now works for the company that arranged the trip. https://twitter.com/ShirazHassan/status/1660671538717421586 The multi-million dollar flight is the second private flight to the space station organized by the company Axiom Space. Last year, they sent three businessmen there, with another retired NASA astronaut.

Eventually, the company plans to add its own rooms to the ISS, before forming a stand-alone outpost for hire.

Axiom won’t say how much the tickets for the passengers are for the planned 10-day mission. But the company had previously cited a ticket price of $55 million each.
NASA’s latest price list shows per-person, per-day charges of $2,000 for food and up to $1,500 for sleeping bags and other gear. https://twitter.com/SarwatNasir/status/1659940396766490628   Milestone mission for Saudi Arabia Barnawi and al-Qarni, whose tickets were sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government, are the first Saudis to travel in a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. Involving a Saudi woman in a space mission is the latest move by the oil-rich Gulf kingdom, where women only gained the right to drive a few years ago, to revamp its ultraconservative image. The kingdom established the Saudi Space Commission in 2018 and launched a program last year to send astronauts into space.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="675"]AP Photo/John Raoux The crew of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, arrive at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.[/caption]
“Hello from outer space! It feels amazing to be viewing Earth from this capsule," Barnawi said after settling into orbit.
Al-Qarni added: “As I look outside into space, I can't help but think this is just the beginning of a great journey for all of us". The guests will have access to most of the station as they conduct experiments, photograph Earth, and chat with school children back home, demonstrating how kites fly in space when attached to a fan. SpaceX's first-stage booster landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff - a special treat for the launch day crowd, which included about 60 Saudis. “It was a very, very exciting day,” said Axiom’s Matt Ondler. https://twitter.com/SarwatNasir/status/1660666828828426241   https://dubainews.tv/spacex-sends-saudi-arabias-first-female-astronaut-into-space/?feed_id=16921&_unique_id=646ba37e35cf8
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Turkey: Erdogan wins re-election as president

Turkey's president,  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , won re-election Sunday in a tense run-off after he failed to secure more than 50 percent of votes required for an outright victory in the first round on May 14 in the strongest challenge to his 20-year rule. Turkish public broadcaster TRT called the presidential election for incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. State-run news agency Anadolu’s vote count shows Erdoğan leading opposition candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu 52.11% to 47.89% with 98.52% of the vote counted. https://twitter.com/KarinaKarapety8/status/1662876007081164800 "We have completed the second round of the presidential election with the favor of our nation," Erdoğan said following the tally. "I would like to express my gratitude to my people who made us live this democracy holiday. We will deserve your trust." Erdogan cast his vote at a voting center in Istanbul on Sunday. “This is a first in Turkish democratic history,” he said. “Turkey,...
Post a Comment
Read more

UAE-India flights: Residents hail new direct route from Dubai to Bhubaneswar

Non-resident Odias living in the UAE flew in specially on the inaugural Dubai-Bhubaneswar direct flight on Tuesday, May 15, 2023, and met Odisha's Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. They thanked him for his intervention in kickstarting these flights to the eastern state of India. Residents reiterated that what made this flight (which is operated by IndiGo) special is that the it fulfills a promise the minister made back in June 2022, when he was in Dubai for an investors' meet. Senior member of the Odia Community of UAE, Priyadarshee Panigrahi, who is the head of an Indian MNC’s MENA operation and is based at Dubai, met the state’s Chief Minister at ‘Naveen Nivas’ after landing from Dubai. He thanked him for the launch of these direct flight operations, which was a long pending demand of the Odia diaspora. Panigrahi says, “It was a wonderful feeling to fly from Dubai to Odisha directly in just about four hours, saving time, money and a lot of inconveni...
Post a Comment
Read more

Indian shares decline on profit booking amid earnings rush

BENGALURU: Indian shares fell on Wednesday, dragged by broad slide across sectors, as investors booked profits on a nearly 5% rise in the benchmark Nifty 50 in fiscal 2024 so far, while weak global cues amid debt ceiling negotiations in the U.S. weighed. The Nifty 50 was closed 0.57% down at 18,181.75, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.60% to 61,560.64. Both indexes extended losses to a second consecutive session. High-weightage financials and information technology (IT) led losses in the Nifty, falling 0.71% and 0.97% respectively. Indian shares set to open higher on inflation boost, FII buying “The market is witnessing profit booking, especially in heavyweights from higher levels,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head – retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “Some consolidation may not be ruled out given the sharp up-move in the last few weeks.” The Nifty has risen 4.74% so far this fiscal, supported by a healthy results season and consistent buying from...
Post a Comment
Read more