UAE’s Nora Al Matrooshi becomes the first Arab woman astronaut
Emirati Nora Al Matrooshi has been selected to join the UAE’s Astronaut Programme, making her the first-ever Arab female astronaut.
Al Matrooshi works as an engineer at the Abu Dhabi-based National Petroleum Construction Co. and was selected from a total of 4,305 applicants, including 1,400 female applicants.
She will join three other astronauts for training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, US as part of a joint strategic agreement between the UAE and the US. Once completed, all of four of them will be qualified for Nasa-led space missions.
So far, out of more than 550 astronauts who have gone to space, only 65 have been women.
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