Noura Al Matroushi is the first Arab woman to receive the astronaut badge at NASA

Noura Al Matrooshi, who has dreamed of going to the moon since her childhood, took a step towards realizing her dream, as this week she became the first Arab woman to obtain the professional astronaut badge at the US Space Agency (NASA), after undergoing two years of intensive training.

Al Matrooshi, born in 1993 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates , says that her passion began when one of her teachers conducted a simulation of a trip to the moon in her school class.

The students first entered what looked like a large tent that was set up in the middle of the classroom to serve as a spaceship. When he got out, everything was covered with gray sheets, and the lights were off.

The young Emirati woman in her thirties told Agence France-Presse: “This day had an impact on me and was imprinted on my mind,” adding, “I remember that I was astonished, and I said to myself that I want to experience this in reality, and that I want to go to the surface of the moon.” And from those moments it began. everything".

Other Arab women have previously participated in space missions. In 2023, Saudi scientist Rayana Barnawi went to the International Space Station for several days as part of a special mission. In 2022, Egyptian Sarah Sabry participated in a mission for the private company Blue Origin, which allowed her to experience weightlessness for a few minutes.

But Noura Al Matroushi, like her Emirati colleague Mohammed Al Mulla, participated over two years in an intensive training program alongside ten other Americans, thanks to cooperation between NASA and the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center.

This week, they all officially became astronauts at a graduation party held by NASA in Houston, Texas.

Their training program included survival courses, spacewalk simulations, and piloting supersonic aircraft.

NASA intends to send astronauts to the moon within the “Artemis” program, and build a space station in orbit around the moon called “Gateway.” The UAE must build an air exhaust for this future station.

“I want humanity to return to the moon, and go beyond the moon, and I want to be part of those missions,” says Noura Al Matroushi, who holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has worked on projects for oil companies.

A space suit that matches the hijab Since Noura Al Matroushi wears a hijab, NASA adopted a procedure that allows her to wear her suit without having to remove her hijab.

Once the suit is put on, the astronauts put on a type of helmet that allows them to communicate with the outside world, and covers all of their hair, Al Matrooshi explains.

But how do you lift the veil to put on the helmet? While only specific materials are allowed to be used to wear the suit, NASA created a “temporary veil” for it. “I can put it on, then put on the suit, put on the communication helmet, and then take it off,” she says, adding, “I very much appreciate what the agency did for me.”

During the month of Ramadan, some exercises that require physical effort were postponed, either earlier in the day or until the end of the month.

“It is difficult to become an astronaut, regardless of one’s religion or origin,” she says, adding, “I do not think that my religion made the task more difficult.”

She adds, "But my religion made me realize the contribution of ancient Muslim intellectuals and scientists who preceded me and studied the stars," and continues, "Becoming an astronaut is, for me, a way to build on this legacy, and on what they began thousands of years ago."