🇦🇪 Nora Al Matrooshi 🧕 | First Arab Woman Astronaut 👩‍🚀

The United Arab Emirates has selected the first Arab woman to train as an astronaut, as the Gulf country rapidly expands into the space sector to diversify its economy.

Emirati national Nora Al Matrooshi, a 27-year-old mechanical engineering graduate currently working at Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company, will join NASA’s 2021 Astronaut Candidate Class in the United States.

The UAE is using its space programme to develop its scientific and technological capabilities and reduce its reliance on oil.

In February a UAE probe reached the orbit of the planet Mars, the Arab world’s first interplanetary expedition. The UAE has plans to launch a moon rover by 2024 and even a vision for a Mars settlement by 2117.

Nora Al Matrooshi will be joined by another Emirati, Mohammed al-Mulla, making a total of four people under the UAE Astronaut Programme. They include Hazza al-Mansouri who became the first Emirati in space in 2019 when he flew to the International Space Station.

Nora was one of 4,300 applicants assessed on scientific abilities, education and practical experience, and then on physical, psychological and medical assessments, Dubai’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) said.

The UAE launched a National Space Programme in 2017 to develop local expertise. Its population of 9.4 million, most of whom are foreign workers, lacks the scientific and industrial base of the big space-faring nations.

About Nora Al Matrooshi

• Nora Al Matrooshi was born in 1993 in the emirate of Sharjah. She received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the United Arab Emirates University in 2015.
• She was chosen from over 4,000 candidates to be trained for future space exploration missions.
• She is a member of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is currently working as an engineer at the National Petroleum Construction Company.
• Al Matrooshi managed projects for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
• She excels in mathematics and engineering, ranking first in the UAE for the 2011 International Mathematical Olympiad.
• Adding to her long list of accomplishments, she was selected for the 2013 UAE Youth Ambassadors Programme in South Korea.
• Passionate about encouraging the youth within the MENA region, she went on to represent the UAE at the UN International Youth Conference in both 2018 and 2019.
• Her love for space was ignited at a young age, as she enjoyed attending stargazing events and lessons about space at her school.

Source: Reuters