Rayyanah Barnawi is one of the astronauts who will fly on the AX-2 mission in Q2 of this year.
Rayyanah Barnawi is one of the astronauts who will fly on the AX-2 mission in Q2 of this year.
Rayyanah Barnawi is one of the astronauts who will fly on the AX-2 mission in Q2 of this year.
Rayyanah Barnawi is one of the astronauts who will fly on the AX-2 mission in Q2 of this year.

Saudi Arabia to send its first female astronaut into space


Patrick Ryan
  • English
  • Arabic

Saudi Arabia has announced it will send its first female astronaut into space later this year.

Rayyanah Barnawi will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) in the second quarter of this year, along with male astronaut Ali Al Qarni, the Saudi Press Agency said on Sunday.

They will be travelling as part of the AX-2 mission to the ISS, the Saudi Space Commission said on Twitter.

Ali AlQarni is one of the astronauts who will fly on the AX-2 mission in Q2 of this year.
Ali AlQarni is one of the astronauts who will fly on the AX-2 mission in Q2 of this year.

“Every journey has its pioneers and every mission has its heroes,” read a Tweet from the commission.

Two more astronauts, Mariam Fardous and Ali Al Gamdi, will train on the Saudi Human Spaceflight Programme on all mission requirements.

“Through this programme, the kingdom seeks to activate scientific innovations at the level of space sciences, enhance its ability to independently conduct its own research that will reflect positively on the future of the industry and the country,” said Abdullah Bin Amer Al Swaha, chairman of the Saudi Space Commission.

“[It will] increase the interest of graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem), and develop human capital by attracting talents and the necessary skills.”

The National reported last year how Emirati Sultan Al Neyadi could be joined on the ISS by two astronauts from Saudi Arabia.

Dr Al Neyadi, a former IT professor from Al Ain, will depart from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida on February 26 for the six-month long mission.

The Saudi Arabian astronauts are expected to join the project for two weeks, Reuters reported in October.

Saudi Arabia's Prince Sultan bin Salman, an air force fighter pilot, became the first Arab in space in 1985.

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Updated: February 12, 2023, 3:36 PM`