• Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla from the UAE are featured in Nasa's 2023 astronaut class photos. Photo: Anil Menon Twitter
    Nora Al Matrooshi and Mohammed Al Mulla from the UAE are featured in Nasa's 2023 astronaut class photos. Photo: Anil Menon Twitter
  • Ms Al Matrooshi and Mr Al Mulla featured in the Nasa 2023 astronaut class photos. Photo: Anil Menon Twitter
    Ms Al Matrooshi and Mr Al Mulla featured in the Nasa 2023 astronaut class photos. Photo: Anil Menon Twitter
  • The UAE’s latest astronauts will soon begin spacewalk training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. All photos: Mohammed Al Mulla Twitter
    The UAE’s latest astronauts will soon begin spacewalk training at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. All photos: Mohammed Al Mulla Twitter
  • The NBL pool is 12 metres deep and helps simulate microgravity, allowing trainees to work on a replica of the space station placed underwater.
    The NBL pool is 12 metres deep and helps simulate microgravity, allowing trainees to work on a replica of the space station placed underwater.
  • Nora Al Matrooshi, the UAE's first female astronaut, and Mohammed Al Mulla (third to right) completed training on the T-6A aircrafts. Now, they begin training on the T-38 Talon, supersonic jets that help prepare astronauts for spaceflight. Here, they are pictured with their Nasa colleagues, who are also in training. Photo: Anil Menon Instagram
    Nora Al Matrooshi, the UAE's first female astronaut, and Mohammed Al Mulla (third to right) completed training on the T-6A aircrafts. Now, they begin training on the T-38 Talon, supersonic jets that help prepare astronauts for spaceflight. Here, they are pictured with their Nasa colleagues, who are also in training. Photo: Anil Menon Instagram
  • UAE's four astronauts at the Expo 2020 Dubai in 2021. Photo: Mohammed AL Mulla Instagram
    UAE's four astronauts at the Expo 2020 Dubai in 2021. Photo: Mohammed AL Mulla Instagram
  • UAE's first female astronaut Nora Al Matrooshi attends her colleague Sultan Al Neyadi's launch to the ISS in Florida. Sarwat Nasir / The National
    UAE's first female astronaut Nora Al Matrooshi attends her colleague Sultan Al Neyadi's launch to the ISS in Florida. Sarwat Nasir / The National
  • Hazza Al Mansouri (left), Nora Al Matrooshi (second to left), Sultan Al Neyadi (right) and Mohammed Al Mulla together for the first time at Nasa Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Photo: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre
    Hazza Al Mansouri (left), Nora Al Matrooshi (second to left), Sultan Al Neyadi (right) and Mohammed Al Mulla together for the first time at Nasa Johnson Space Centre in Houston. Photo: Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre

UAE's first female astronaut to graduate from Nasa training programme on March 5


Sarwat Nasir
  • English
  • Arabic

The UAE's first female astronaut will graduate from a Nasa training programme in Houston, Texas on March 5, Nasa confirmed on Wednesday.

Emirati mechanical engineer Nora Al Matrooshi, her colleague Mohammed Al Mulla, a former Dubai Police helicopter pilot, and 11 American astronaut candidates will graduate as part of the Nasa astronaut class of 2023.

They will then become eligible for space missions, including to the International Space Station, as well any other future US-led missions, such as trips to the Moon planned under Nasa's Artemis programme.

Since starting their training in 2021 at the Johnson Space Centre, the candidates have undergone a series of training courses, including land survival, flight training, spacesuit and spacewalks and geology field training.

"I first started dreaming of becoming an astronaut when my teacher in kindergarten asked us to build a tent and pretend it was a spacecraft that was taking us to the Moon. Since then I’ve become extremely passionate about becoming an astronaut,” Ms Al Matrooshi, 30, said at an earlier media briefing.

“I’ve been working in the oil and gas field for several years, but my dream of becoming an astronaut never went away. This is a life-changing opportunity.

“The dream I’ve had since a child has come true. Now, I’ve started dreaming bigger.”

The graduation ceremony will be held at Johnson Space Centre at 10.30am EST (7.30pm UAE time) on Tuesday, March 5.

Nasa’s 2023 astronaut class patch features a US and UAE flag. The patch is shaped like a fly, and features an astronaut reaching for the Moon, with Mars pictured in the distance.

The design symbolises the space agency's goal of a human presence on the Moon and, later, travel to Mars as part of the Artemis programme.

UAE's first two astronauts – Sultan Al Neyadi, who returned from a six-month stint on the ISS in September, and Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati in space – completed the Nasa training programme in 2022.

All Emirati astronauts will soon qualify for missions to the Lunar Gateway, as the UAE has secured a spot for one of its astronauts on the Moon-orbiting station.

The Emirates will supply an airlock for the Gateway in exchange for access to the station.

It is not yet decided which Emirati astronaut will be the first to go on a mission to the Gateway.

"We have four astronauts and all of them will be trained," Salem Al Marri, director general of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre, told The National this month.

"But this is not something that we can decide at this stage and as we get closer, and we start getting into the operational elements, then we get into mission selection."

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Who was Alfred Nobel?

The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.

  • In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
  • Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
  • Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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Timeline

1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line

1962
250 GTO is unveiled

1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company

1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens

1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made

1987
F40 launched

1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent

2002
The Enzo model is announced

2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi

2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled

2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives

2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company

2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street

2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary

Updated: March 13, 2024, 1:06 PM