Saudi Arabia is set to make history as its first female astronaut, Rayyanah Barnawi, and her colleague Ali al-Qarni prepare for their journey to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday.
The duo will join the Axiom Space 2 mission, scheduled to launch at 5:37 p.m. (EDT time), according to NASA. Astronaut Peggy Whitson and business pioneer and pilot John Shoffner will also be part of the mission.
Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, expressed her excitement and honor at representing Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Space Commission as the country’s first female astronaut. She highlighted her passion for research and described the opportunity as a dream come true for everyone involved.
During their eight-day stay on the ISS, Whitson, Shoffner, al-Qarni, and Barnawi aim to conduct 20 research projects. Among them are 14 projects developed by Saudi scientists, covering various areas such as human physiology, cell biology, and technology development.
The launch, planned atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has a backup launch opportunity scheduled on Monday at 5:14 p.m.
On Saturday astronaut al-Qarni shared pictures on his Twitter account the contents of his space travel bag.