Sky’s no limit for ambitions; Saudis in space

Sky’s no limit for ambitions; Saudis in space

CAPE CANAVERAL — In a historic moment, taking the dreams of all citizens to fly high on board, Saudi astronauts Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al Qarni have been launched into space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The astronauts blasted off from the rocket aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida on Sunday. The launch of the private mission voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) was at 1:37 a.m. The Dragon spacecraft will travel for 16 hours to the ISS, with arrival expected at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.

The space flight, organized by Axiom Space, was a great success when they took off on board the dreams of their proud families, the entire nation and its excited people. This marks Saudi Arabia’s dispatch of its first nationals to foray into space in almost four decades, after the Kingdom set the first Arab, Prince Sultan bin Salman, to space in 1985.

Barnawi and Al Qarni are expected to land at ISS about 6 p.m GST Monday where they join fellow Arab astronaut, the UAE’s Sultan Al-Neyadi, currently on the ISS for a six month mission. It will mark