35 years ago, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman became the first Arab, Muslim and royal in space

35 years ago, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman became the first Arab, Muslim and royal in space

LONDON: Thirty-five years ago today, at 2:33 p.m. Riyadh time on June 17, 1985, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.. The choice of launch pad 39A for the mission had been a hugely symbolic one for the prince, who, as a 13-year-old boy in Riyadh, had watched the grainy television footage of the Apollo 11 lunar mission, which had taken off from the same site on July 16, 1969.. In 1976, Saudi Arabia had played a key role in the Arab League's formation of Arabsat, a satellite communications company.. "When you see Earth from space, you then begin to focus “¦ that this is a gift from Allah, and that there is more to it than yourself and your small community, more to it than your own limited passions," he recalled.. "My father, when he called me on the space shuttle, said: 'I learned today that you finished the Qur'an,' and he was very happy about it," the prince recalled last year.. Prince Sultan bin Salman speaks exclusively to Arab News about his 1985 NASA mission and how he became the first Arab, Muslim and royal in space. Prince