“First Saudi Female Astronaut: Will it Enact Change in Women’s Rights Policy?”

The first female astronaut was born in Saudi Arabia, a representative conservative Arab country.

I rode SpaceX’s spacecraft and headed to the International Space Station, and I’m interested in whether there will be a change in Saudi Arabia’s women’s rights policy.

Reporter Lee Man-soo reports.

[기자]

Kennedy Space Station, Florida, USA.

SpaceX’s manned spaceship ‘Crew Dragon’ soars high into the sky toward the International Space Station, ISS.

One of the four on board is Rayana Barnawi, a stem cell researcher from Saudi Arabia.

She is Saudi Arabia’s first female astronaut.

[레이야나 바르나위 / 사우디 최초 여성 우주인 (지난 17일) : 사우디 정부와 사우디 우주위원회를 대표해 사우디 최초의 여성 우주비행사가 국제우주정거장으로 비행하게 되어 매우 기쁘고 영광스럽게 생각합니다.]

Barnawi, who boarded the spacecraft alongside a Saudi Air Force fighter pilot, said she was honored to represent the dreams and hopes of all women in her homeland.

Saudi Arabia’s space project, including the training of female astronauts, has been pushed forward as part of the ‘Vision 2030’ plan by Crown Prince bin Salman, who is a real person.

[모하메드 / 사우디 시민 : 사우디 젊은이들이 최고가 되어 국제적인 수준에 도달하기 바라고 우주 임무에 행운이 있기를 바랍니다.]

Crown Prince bin Salman has taken a rather forward-looking policy on women’s rights, allowing women to play football and drive.

The space flight was organized by the American private space company ‘Exium Space’, but it was not disclosed how much the Saudi government paid.

It is known that when Exium Space flew to the ISS for the first time as a private company last year, it paid about 73 billion won per person.

In addition to the Saudi astronaut, former NASA astronaut Peggy Watson, who holds the record for the longest stay in space at 665 days, and American businessman John Schopener were also on board the Space X spacecraft.

This is Mansu Lee from YTN.

Video editing: Lim Hyeon-chul

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