Breast Cancer Researcher Leads Historic Saudi Mission to Space
In May, breast cancer researcher Rayyanah Barnawi will launch her maiden space mission as a Saudi Arabian Woman. According to NASA officials, Barnawi will travel on a private mission with fellow Saudi Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot, Peggy Whitson, a former astronaut with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Tennessee Businessman John Shoffner, who will fly the mission.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the four-person crew will take them to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the second trip for the commercial space business Axiom Space. For Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), Barnawi will act as a mission specialist. Saudi Arabia is considered to be the most recent country to send an astronaut to space.
On May 8, she and the crew launched from Florida, United States, in a private mission viewed as a crucial step towards the first commercial space station in the world, which might eventually replace the International Space Station.
