Down-to-earth hopes of a woman aiming for orbit The National “She has raised the UAE flag at both poles and is the first woman from the Emirates to train as an astronaut, but Namira Salim’s greatest ambition is more down to earth.” “Pakistan-born Miss Salim, 37, has lived in the UAE for 20 years and is preparing to leave the Earth’s atmosphere as the only space tourist from a GCC […]

Musician and sculpture Namira Salim is poised to become the first female Pakistani astronaut. She recently completed spaceflight training at a U.S. facility. She will be one of the first 100 suborbital space tourists flown by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic company. “I am not only proud to be the first Pakistani, but particularly proud to be the first female from Pakistan to have had such a phenomenal experience,” Salim told […]