UAE selects first Arab woman astronaut

Women walk past an illustration depicting an astronaut with the Emirati national flag outside Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) in Dubai on September 25, 2019. (File/AFP)

• Dubai ruler said both astronauts were selected among over 4,000 applicants

DUBAI: The UAE has chosen two Emirati astronauts including the first woman in the Arab world to be part of the country’s astronaut corps, UAE Prime Minister and Vice President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum tweeted.
“We announce today, thank God, two new Emirati astronauts ... among them the first Arab woman astronaut ... Nora Al-Matrooshi along with Mohammed Al-Mulla.”
He said both astronauts were selected among over 4,000 applicants.
“Their training will begin soon within the NASA astronaut program ... We congratulate the country on them. We count on them to raise the name of the UAE in the sky,” he added.
The total number of astronauts selected in the UAE so far has reached four with Hazza Al-Mansouri being the first Emirati man in space, and reserve astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi.