Saudi Arabia sends its first female astronaut into space

The crew of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon spacecraft, from left, Saudi Arabian astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, commandeer Peggy Whitson, pilot John Shoffner and Saudi Arabian astronaut Ali al-Qarni.

Two Saudi astronauts, including the first Saudi woman, blasted off from Florida on May 21 on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Saudis watch as SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule blasts off, during Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), carrying four astronauts, two of whom are Saudi nationals, to the International Space Station, from Kennedy Space Center.

Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, the first Arab and Muslim to fly in outer space, watches the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule.

People watch a screen in Riyadh on May 21, 2023 as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Axiom Mission 2 astronauts prepares to lift off from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The booster returns after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Crew Dragon spacecraft launched from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on May 21, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

People watch a screen in Riyadh on May 21, 2023 as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Axiom Mission 2 astronauts prepares to lift off from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

People watch a screen in Riyadh on May 21, 2023 as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Axiom Mission 2 astronauts lifts off from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

People walk past poster with the picture of Saudi Space Commission astronauts Ali Al-Qarni (L) and Rayyanah Barnawi, of the Axiom Mission 2, at a festive government-organised viewing party in Riyadh on May 21, 2023.

People watch a screen in Riyadh on May 21, 2023 as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Axiom Mission 2 astronauts prepares to lift off from pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.