THE first female Arab astronaut to go to space has made it to the International Space Station.
Rayyanah Barnawi, 34, blasted out of Florida on Saturday with the private Axiom Space mission.
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Biomedical scientist Ms Barnawi will spend ten days on the ISS carrying out breast cancer and stem cell research.
She is joined by fighter pilot Ali Alqarni, a fellow Saudi Arabian, US racing driver John Shoffner and retired Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson.
In a video filmed in space, Ms Barnawi said: “The future is very bright. Dream big.
“Space station welcomes 2 Saudi visitors, including kingdom’s 1st female astronaut.”
Only one other Saudi has flown before in space, a prince who rode on Nasa’s shuttle Discovery in 1985.
