Dubai-based astronaut Namira Salim will become the first Pakistani to head to space on a Virgin Galactic flight scheduled for around 7pm PST.
She will be joined by three crew members and two other civilians: American astronomy educator Ron Rosano and Trevor Beattie, an advertising executive from the UK.
Salim will make history with her space mission by becoming the first female inhabitant of Pakistan and the UAE to travel to space. For almost 20 years, Salim has been waiting for her commercial spaceflight.
The flight will take off from Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in New Mexico, according to a press release issued by the company. This will be the Richard Branson-founded company’s fifth spaceflight this year and ninth spaceflight to date.
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According to Space.com, the VSS Unity spacecraft flies on a suborbital trajectory that allows its passengers several minutes of weightlessness before returning to the runway back at Spaceport America.
Though it doesn’t reach orbit, Unity will be high enough that passengers will be able to see the curvature of Earth against the dark backdrop of outer space.
According to the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation website, Namira Salim was born in Karachi. She holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.
Among her many accolades is the fact that she was officially recognised as the ‘First Pakistani Astronaut’ by the government of Pakistan in 2006 and was awarded the ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz’ (Medal of Excellence) in 2011 by the President of Pakistan.
Salim founded the nonprofit Space Trust, which advocates for leveraging the growing space sector as a platform for achieving peace on Earth
