By Online Desk
Rayannah Barnavi, the first Arab woman astronaut, has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS).
She is one of the two Arab astronauts in “Axiom Space’s second private mission, which took off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the US on Sunday,” BBC reported.
Rayannah, a biomedical scientist based out of Saudi Arabia, will carry out stem cell and breast cancer research in space, during her time in the orbiting laboratory. According to The National News, Barnavi will be “studying the inflammatory response of human immune cells in microgravity.”
Her research will be based on some of her work as a research lab technician at the Stem Cell and Tissue Re-engineering Programme of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh. Barnavi spent nine years at this centre, says BBC.
“To the people around the world, the future is very bright. I would like you to dream big, believe in yourselves and believe in humanity,” Barnavi says in a video filmed in space before she got to the ISS.
Al Qarni, a fighter pilot from Saudi, is the other Arab astronaut in the Axiom Space’s mission. He said that this moment was “historic not just for me but for every Saudi, I couldn’t have done it without the support, the love [and] the trust from all of you,” Al Arabiya has reported.
“We really are excited to be here,” added mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who made the voyage three times in the past.
“It was a great launch, a great ride, we had a lot of fun on the way up and we’re really excited to get a lot of work done up here.”
The fourth crew member is American businessman John Shoffner.
About two hours after docking, the quartet entered the ISS, where they joined the seven astronauts — three Russians, three Americans and an Emirati — already on board.
The SpaceX rocket blasted off from Florida on Sunday, and the trip to the ISS, which orbits around 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth, lasted about 16 hours.
(With inputs from AFP)
Rayannah Barnavi, the first Arab woman astronaut, has arrived at the International Space Station (ISS).
She is one of the two Arab astronauts in “Axiom Space’s second private mission, which took off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the US on Sunday,” BBC reported.
Rayannah, a biomedical scientist based out of Saudi Arabia, will carry out stem cell and breast cancer research in space, during her time in the orbiting laboratory. According to The National News, Barnavi will be “studying the inflammatory response of human immune cells in microgravity.”googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Her research will be based on some of her work as a research lab technician at the Stem Cell and Tissue Re-engineering Programme of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh. Barnavi spent nine years at this centre, says BBC.
“To the people around the world, the future is very bright. I would like you to dream big, believe in yourselves and believe in humanity,” Barnavi says in a video filmed in space before she got to the ISS.
Al Qarni, a fighter pilot from Saudi, is the other Arab astronaut in the Axiom Space’s mission. He said that this moment was “historic not just for me but for every Saudi, I couldn’t have done it without the support, the love [and] the trust from all of you,” Al Arabiya has reported.
“We really are excited to be here,” added mission commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who made the voyage three times in the past.
“It was a great launch, a great ride, we had a lot of fun on the way up and we’re really excited to get a lot of work done up here.”
The fourth crew member is American businessman John Shoffner.
About two hours after docking, the quartet entered the ISS, where they joined the seven astronauts — three Russians, three Americans and an Emirati — already on board.
The SpaceX rocket blasted off from Florida on Sunday, and the trip to the ISS, which orbits around 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Earth, lasted about 16 hours.
(With inputs from AFP)
