UAE welcomes the first ever Arab woman, Nora al-Matrooshi, as she starts training to be an astronaut. She ended up as one of two Emiratis that were picked from a vast thousands of applicants as the Gulf nation is now looking to the stars.
Nora al-Matrooshi - UAE's First Female Astronaut
According to FirstPost, Nora al-Matrooshi is a 28-year-old mechanical engineer hailing from Sharjah, one of the seven emirates included in the UAE, and she has been dreaming about space ever since she was just a girl while learning about planets and stars at school.
While there are currently no space missions scheduled, she still hopes to one day have the opportunity to visit outer space. This would continue the long tradition of exploration begun by her ancestors as sailors.
al-Matrooshi Comes from a Family of Explorers
Al-Matrooshi shared that her mother's side of the family were sailors. She then noted that they had explored the oceans and that the term "astronaut," in Greek, means "star sailor." Matrooshi is set to follow her fellow countryman, Mohammad al-Mulla, aged 33, expected to head to the United States later this year in order to train at the NASA Johnson Space Center.
They will both be joining Hazza al-Mansoori and Sultan al-Neyadi in the Emirati fellowship of astronauts. The two Emiratis are, as of the moment, training in-house in the emirate of Dubai. This includes lessons from speaking Russian to flying lessons.
UAE's First Emirati into Space
The UAE is still a newcomer to the world of space exploration. Despite being new, however, it is quickly making its mark. In September 2019, the popular oil-rich country had finally sent the very first Emirati into space as part of a solid three-member crew that reportedly blasted off a Soyuz rocket coming from Kazakhstan for a solid eight-day mission.
In February, it's very own "Hope" probe was able to successfully enter Mars' orbit on a journey that was to reveal the secrets of the Martian weather. This made history as the very first interplanetary mission for the Arabs.
Where to Follow Nora al-Matrooshi Online
In September 2020, Abu Dhabi announced that it planned to launch an unmanned rover directly to the moon come 2024 which would be the very first trip to Earth's own satellite made by an Arab country. Matrooshi noted that if a person is really passionate at what they are doing, they should work hard for it and also look for opportunities.
For those inspired by Nora al-Matrooshi and want to follow her on social media, she has a Twitter account as well as an Instagram account. As for the future space missions, stay posted as TechTimes will cover further missions to space potentially involving the new female astronaut Nora al-Matrooshi and other space voyages. For now, this is a big achievement for the UAE and for the Arabs in general!
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Written by Urian B.
