Pakistani Woman Astronaut’s Historic Space Mission
The initial woman astronaut hailing from Pakistan, South Asia, and the Commonwealth of Nations, Namira Saleem, has landed in the US for a space voyage aboard the Virgin Galactic Commercial Space Liner.
Namira Saleem touched down in Dallas, Texas, departing from Karachi, and is set to embark on her space journey on October 5.
Expressing her strong determination, Namira Saleem affirmed her resolve to venture into space.
The mission of the Galactic Commercial Space Liner, named Galactic 04, is scheduled to take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico on October 5.
The long wait is finally over.
Come October 5, #NamiraSalim will go sub-orbital on a @virgingalactic flight that she purchased as one of the pioneering #space tourists 17 years ago.
She will become the first female #UAE resident and #Pakistan's first female space tourist.… pic.twitter.com/x7wCX8jEbx
— Khaleej Times (@khaleejtimes) September 29, 2023
Namira Saleem, hailing from Dubai, achieved the historic feat of raising the Pakistani flag at the North Pole in 2007 and repeated this triumph at the South Pole in 2008, making her the pioneering Pakistani woman to do so.
It is important to mention that Virgin Galactic achieved the inaugural commercial journey to space in late June of 2023. However, this voyage did not accommodate regular vacationers but rather specialists from Italy.
Subsequently, in August, the corporation initiated the primary space expedition for holidaymakers, and in September, another journey included vacationers venturing into space. Namira Saleem is also slated to participate in the forthcoming undertaking of this enterprise.
The assignment will include three holidaymakers, among them Namira Salim, who will be aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft belonging to the company.
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This will mark the fourth commercial space excursion for the company in total.
It is important to highlight that this corporation endeavored to initiate a sequence of commercial journeys to outer space for nearly 2 decades.
Namira Salim stands among the initial 100 individuals to procure passes for the American firm’s space tourism.
He had previously reserved the pass for this excursion in 2006 and presently he has the opportunity to voyage into space.
It is worth mentioning that the Government of Pakistan officially designated Namira Saleem as the pioneer Pakistani space traveler in 2006, and in 2011, she was honored with the Medal of Distinction.