The first female astronaut from Saudi Arabia, Rayyanah Barnawi, and her coworker Ali al-Qarni are getting ready to go into space and travel to the International Space Station (ISS) tonight! In addition to becoming the first Saudi citizens to launch into space since Sultan ibn Salman Al Saud in 1985, Barnawi will make history as the first Arab woman on an orbital space mission.
According to NASA, Barnawi and Al-Qarni will fly on the exclusive Axiom Space 2 mission, which will lift off at 12:37 AM (GMT + 2 time). John Shoffner and Peggy Whitson, two American pilots, are also part of the mission. On their 8-day journey, the Saudi astronauts will also carry out 14 experiments.
