Astronaut Namira Salim set to start her space journey on Oct 6, undergoes training in US

Pakistan’s first female astronaut Namira Salim is all set to start her space journey on Oct 6!

Namira Salim, along with other astronauts is undergoing training in the US.

She will travel to the sub-orbital on a Virgin Galactic flight that she purchased as one of the pioneering space tourists 17 years ago.

Namira will become the first female UAE resident and Pakistan‘s first female space tourist.

 

On the first day of training, she and other astronauts had learned about fitting spacesuits and parachutes to perfection.

In a statement, Namira said, “We are also trained about the functionality of our custom-made seats in the spaceship and how to fasten and unfasten our seat belts so we leave our seats in zero gravity well oriented and take the necessary steps to maximize our experience in space.”

“We have also learned to make gentle movements not to bump into windows or fellow astronauts and how to naturally drift when floating in zero gravity”, she said, adding that there will be a more exciting second day of training, full of surprises, and she would share its details.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar extended his good wishes to Pakistani female astronaut Namira Salim who is set to start her space journey on October 6.

“Good Luck Namira Salim. I wish you success when you’re ready to make history on 06 October by becoming the 1st Pakistani woman to travel to space in the Galactic 04,” the prime minister wrote on social media platform X.

“By proving their mettle as trailblazers in multiple fields, Pakistani women are making the whole nation proud,” PM Kakar added.

Namira thanked the PM for the wishes and expressed that she is proud to host the Pakistan Flag high in space.

On her way up, she will experience up to four times the force of the Earth’s gravity, known as 4G.

Then, the spacecraft will enter almost zero gravity and experience four minutes of weightlessness aboard the spaceplane VSS Unity.