Pakistani astronaut Nimra Salim embarks on space journey

NEW MEXICO/ISLAMABAD: Pakistani astronaut Nimra Salim blasted off into space on Friday, becoming the first person from her country to travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

Salim, 36, was one of three private astronauts who boarded Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity spacecraft, which took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, United States. The other two were British billionaire Richard Branson, who owns Virgin Galactic, and American engineer Beth Moses.

The mission, dubbed Unity 23, was the fourth crewed flight for Virgin Galactic, which aims to pioneer commercial space tourism. The spacecraft reached an altitude of about 86 km (53 miles), where the passengers experienced several minutes of weightlessness and saw the curvature of the Earth.

Salim, who was born in Karachi and lives in Dubai and Monaco, is an explorer, artist and founder of Space Trust, a non-profit initiative that promotes space as a tool for peace. She is also the first Pakistani to have reached both the North Pole and the South Pole, and the first Asian to skydive over Mount Everest.

PM wishes success to Namira Salim ahead of her space journey

She bought her ticket for the space flight in 2006 for $200,000, joining Virgin Galactic’s Founder Astronaut Club as one of the first 100 future space tourists. She completed her sub-orbital spaceflight training in 2007 at the National Aerospace Training and Research Center in Pennsylvania.

Salim said she was honoured to represent Pakistan in space and hoped to inspire young people in her country to pursue their dreams.

“I am very proud to be a Pakistani and to carry our flag into space. I hope this will encourage more Pakistanis, especially girls, to study science and technology and to follow their passions,” she said in a statement before the launch. (Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Tiffany Wu).