DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) today (Saturday) named the next two astronauts in its space programme Saturday, including the country’s first female astronaut.
The development was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai who also serves as the autocratically ruled country’s prime minister and vice president.
We announce the first Arab female astronaut, among two new astronauts, selected from over 4,000 candidates to be trained with NASA for future space exploration missions. Congratulations Noura Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla. pic.twitter.com/bfyquyzqAJ
— HH Sheikh Mohammed (@HHShkMohd) April 10, 2021
He identified Noura al-Matroushi as the UAE’s first female astronaut, with her male counterpart as Mohammed al-Mulla. The two had been selected among more than 4,000 applicants in the UAE.
If al-Matroushi ends up going on a mission, she could become the first Arab woman in space, the UAE government said. The two will undergo training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
A later government promotional video described al-Matroushi, born in 1993, as an engineer at the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Co. Al-Mulla, born in 1988, serves as a pilot with Dubai police and heads their training division, the government said.
Anousheh Raissyan, an Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur and millionaire from Dallas, became the first Muslim woman and first Iranian in space when she traveled as a self-funded civilian to the International Space Station in 2006.
