See: A Pakistani citizen living in Dubai flies to space and makes history – News
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She was recognized as the first Pakistani astronaut by the Pakistani government in 2006.
Photo: @virgingalactic/X
Namira Salim, a long-time UAE resident and Pakistani citizen, has made history as the first Pakistani woman to fly into space as part of Virgin Galactic 04 on Friday.
With Salim and two other space tourists, Virgin Galactic tweeted after a successful hour-long flight: Welcome back to Earth, #Galactic04! Our pilots, crew and spacecraft landed safely at Spaceport America, New Mexico.
Salim, also known as Virgin Galactic astronaut 019, was aboard Virgin Galactic’s reusable space plane, VSS Unity, which was launched into space by a transport plane, VMS Eve, at 7.40 pm (UAE time). United States) from Virgin Galactic’s Spaceport America in New Mexico. .
Salim was joined by Ron Rosano (Virgin Galactic Astronaut 017), another space tourist and astronomy educator from Muir Beach, California; and British citizen Trevor Beattie (Virgin Galactic Astronaut 018), advertising executive and founding partner, president and creative director of Beattie McGuinness.
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The trio was led by mission commander Kelly Latimer and pilot CJ Sturckow aboard VSS Unity, while Virgin Galactic chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses joined them in the cockpit. Meanwhile, VMS Eve was piloted by Commander Nicola Pecile and Pilot Jameel Janjua.
state of weightlessness
Salim and the other two space tourists experienced up to four times the force of Earth’s gravity, known as 4G. They entered near-zero gravity, including four minutes of weightlessness aboard the VSS Unity spaceplane.
It has been a lifelong goal for Namira, who had to wait almost two decades to go to space. It all started in 2006, when she became the first UAE resident to purchase a suborbital flight ticket from Sir Richard Branson’s space company. She paid $200,000, less than half the current reported price of $450,000 for a seat on a Virgin Galactic flight.
Namira has multiple achievements. She was recognized as the first Pakistani astronaut by the Pakistani government in 2006, and she served as Pakistan’s honorary tourism ambassador the following year. She also became a peace activist and was awarded the ‘Tamgha-e-Imtiaz’ (Medal of Excellence) by the President of Pakistan in 2011.
Namira is also proud to represent three countries – the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Monaco (where she is also a long-time resident) – in her spaceflight.
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