3 hours agoNora Al-Matroosh, the first woman astronaut from the Arab world
Periskopi(5 years ago)
(5 years ago)In Dubai the youngest astronauts of the United Arab Emirates talked about their dream of traveling towards space. Among the shortlisted candidates is Nora Al-Matrooshi, a mechanical engineer who is the first astronaut woman from the Arab world. It could be said that the fate of Mohammad Al-Mulas and Nora Al-Matrooshi is [...]
It could be said that the fate of Mohammad Al-Mulas and Nora Al-Matrooshi is written in stars.
They were selected under an astronaut programme of the United Arab Emirates to start preparations before their trip to Houston to join the US Agency NASA.
From there astronauts plan to travel to the International Space Station.
Nora Al-Matrooshi is 28 years old, a graduate of mechanical engineering. She'll be the first Arab astronaut woman.
Its passion for space began early when it was fascinated by the stars.
The feeling of achieving your dreams is satisfaction and I feel great responsibility knowing the importance of this for the United Arab Emirates and the Arab world in general”, she said.
She wants to encourage more girls and women to start a career in the space travel industry.
The fact that I was chosen to be a part of the programme, I think it's very encouraging for all girls who want to enter the space field, whether as a scientist or through training or working hard to become astronaute”, she said.
Mohammad Al-Mula, 34-year-old pilot, is currently head of the Air Wing Training Department in Dubai Police.
“I hope my experience in the field of aviation will be supportive of a larger space mission in the future”, he says.
He hopes to explore the moon someday.
Currently, astronauts are conducting training in a closed environment of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre, which includes swimming, diving, survival exercises, sustainability, aircraft flight classes and Russian language training.
Astronauts travel to Houston in December 2021, where preparations will begin for “Klasa of NASA Astroaut candidates “, which is part of a joint agreement between Arab Emirates and the United States of America to train them at NASA's Johnson Space Centre.
Salem Al-Marie, deputy director general of the Mohammad Bin Rashed Space Centre, hopes that new astronauts “can contribute and work on the moon research over the next two decades”.
In 2021, the United Arab Emirates begin toward Mars probe “Hope”, the first Arab interplanetary mission to reach orbit of Mars.
The “Hope” will collect important scientific data about the Mars atmosphere. / VOA
