Saudis send first female astronaut to International Space Station
Five years after they won the right to drive, Saudi Arabian women are celebrating the arrival of the kingdom’s first female astronaut at the International Space Station.
Rayyanah Barnawi, 34, will live and work aboard the ISS for eight days as one of four crew members of Ax-2 — the second all-private mission to the orbiting laboratory. She is the first female Arab in space.
“I’m here not only representing myself but representing the hopes and dreams of everyone back home,” she said during a ceremony welcoming her and three crewmates aboard.
“We are here together, with different cultures and international collaboration. This shows how space brings everyone together,” she added.
Barnawi docked at the ISS aboard the Crew Dragon capsule Freedom with three crewmates;
