UAE Reveals First Arab Woman Astronaut

United Arab Emirates announced this Saturday that Noura al Matrooshi is the first Arab woman astronaut, who will be part of the team of four chosen to receive training with the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with a view to integrating future missions into space.

“We announce the first Arab woman astronaut, among the two new astronauts selected from 4,000 candidates to train with NASA for future exploration missions,” said the vice president and prime minister of the Arab country, Mohamed bin Rashid al Maktoum, in a message on his Twitter account.

Al Matrooshi will be part of the team of four Emirati astronauts, which includes Haza al Mansoori, the first astronaut to travel to space, in September 2020, for an eight-day mission to the International Space Station, the Emirati state news agency WAM reported.

The newly appointed astronaut has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of the UAE, has several years of work experience in this field and excelled in her studies in engineering and mathematics.

To be selected, she had to pass a long and difficult process in which 4,305 candidates participated, of which 33% were women, and which included tests of intelligence, personality and technical ability, medical examinations and rigorous tests to assess physical condition, teamwork and communication skills, indicated the WAM agency.

The four Emirati astronauts will be trained at NASA’s Johnson Space Center thanks to a strategic agreement between the Emirates and the United States, whereby they will be instructed in manned space flights and space research to carry out low-orbit missions, according to the statement posted by WAM.

The UAE has made a strong bet in recent years in the field of aerospace science. In 2014 it created its own space agency and last February it became the fifth country to get a probe, Hope, into the orbit of Mars.