Saudi Arabia’s Barnawi, Al-Qarni to Head to Space in 2023

Saudi astronauts Mariam Fardous, Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Ghamdi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi astronauts Mariam Fardous, Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Ghamdi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia’s Barnawi, Al-Qarni to Head to Space in 2023

Saudi astronauts Mariam Fardous, Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Ghamdi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi astronauts Mariam Fardous, Rayyanah Barnawi, Ali Al-Qarni and Ali Al-Ghamdi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia will soon send its first female and male astronauts to the International Space Station. The step aims to boost Saudi capabilities in human spaceflight geared towards serving humanity and benefiting from the promising opportunities offered by the space industry

Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni will blast off into outer space in the second quarter of this year.

The Saudi astronauts will join the crew of the AX-2 space mission and will advance Saudi Arabia’s contribution to scientific research in space technology, health, and sustainability.

The space mission is scheduled to launch from the USA to the International Space Station.

In addition, the Saudi Human Spaceflight Program includes the training of two more astronauts on all mission requirements. They have been named as Mariam Fardous and Ali AlGamdi.

The Chairman of the Saudi Space Commission (SSC), Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Swaha, said that the Kingdom’s leadership is keen to give unlimited support to the space program.

This support aims to increase graduates’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and to nurture innovation in space sciences, added Al-Sawaha.

It also aims to improve the Kingdom’s capacity to conduct its own research, which will benefit the industry and the nation, and develop human capital by attracting skilled talents.

Sending astronauts into space is a symbol of the Kingdom’s global competitiveness in fields of technology, engineering, research, and innovation.



Prince William Takes Early-Morning Nature Walk Near South Africa’s Table Mountain

 Prince William, Prince of Wales talks to Megan Taplin, Park Manager for Table Mountain National Park during his visit at Signal Hill on November 05, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Ian Vogler/Pool via Reuters)
Prince William, Prince of Wales talks to Megan Taplin, Park Manager for Table Mountain National Park during his visit at Signal Hill on November 05, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Ian Vogler/Pool via Reuters)
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Prince William Takes Early-Morning Nature Walk Near South Africa’s Table Mountain

 Prince William, Prince of Wales talks to Megan Taplin, Park Manager for Table Mountain National Park during his visit at Signal Hill on November 05, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Ian Vogler/Pool via Reuters)
Prince William, Prince of Wales talks to Megan Taplin, Park Manager for Table Mountain National Park during his visit at Signal Hill on November 05, 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Ian Vogler/Pool via Reuters)

Prince William went on an early-morning nature walk near South Africa's Table Mountain on Tuesday to promote the work of conservation rangers in a unique urban national park.

The Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne met with some of the rangers who guard the Table Mountain National Park, an 85-square-mile (220-square kilometer) area that overlooks Cape Town and spills into the city's suburbs in some areas.

William didn't go to the top of the famous flat-topped mountain, instead strolling through nature trails on Signal Hill, a foothill that sits by the ocean's edge.

The prince was accompanied on the walk by Megan Taplin, the park manager, and Robert Irwin, an Australian conservationist. William met with rangers, park firefighters and members of a K-9 dog unit.

“He got to learn about what they do on a daily basis and what challenges they face,” Taplin said. “We also spoke a lot about ranger wellness and how that's really important that rangers are supported, that their families are supported, because they are doing quite dangerous work and difficult work.”

William is in South Africa to promote his annual Earthshot Prize, which awards $1.2 million in grants to five entrepreneurs or organizations for innovative ideas that help the environment and combat climate change. William set up the Earthshot Prize in 2020 through his Royal Foundation and the awards ceremony will be held in Cape Town — the first time it's been in Africa — on Wednesday night.

The prince's four-day visit is a kind of environmental roadshow and is heavily focused on climate and conservation, though he did break away from those issues on his first day in Cape Town on Monday to attend a rugby practice at a local high school and play a little of South Africa's favorite sport with some of the kids.

William was also due to meet with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the president's Cape Town residence on Tuesday.

William has a range of engagements planned in South Africa's second-biggest city, including meetings with young environmentalists, attending a wildlife summit, visiting a botanical garden and spending time at a sea rescue institute and with a Cape Town fishing community.

William last visited Africa in 2018 but he has a strong connection to the continent. He traveled there as a boy after the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a Paris car crash in 1997. He and his wife, Kate, got engaged at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya in 2010. And he said he came up with the idea for the Earthshot awards while in Namibia in 2018.

Before the visit, William said that Africa has always had “a special place in my heart.” William's brother Prince Harry visited South Africa and neighboring Lesotho last month for a charity he set up in southern Africa.

William's wife Kate, the Princess of Wales, and their children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis did not travel to South Africa. Kate only recently returned to some public duties after completing treatment for an undisclosed type of cancer.