Saudi is all set to script history as it is about to send off its first woman astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, along with a fellow Saudi, on their monumental space expedition to ISS on May 9.

During a joint press briefing on Thursday, NASA and Axiom Space officials said that Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni will take off from Florida on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, is the first Saudi woman to embark into space and will be joined by Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot.

There are two other astronauts who will join Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni in their voyage. They are Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who will be making her fourth flight to the ISS, and John Shoffner, a businessman from Tennessee who will serve as pilot.

All four of them will join UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who began his six-month mission on March 3, on board the ISS.

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the four-member crew and is scheduled for lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral at 0243 GMT.

They will travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and spend 10 days aboard the orbiting space station. The mission to the ISS, called, Axiom Mission 2, will be the second by Axiom Space, a private US space company.

Barnawai was excited when the announcement to the expedition was made. She said that this space voyage would complete the goals of the Kingdom’s space program and will contribute to achieving future explorations in various fields, reported the Saudi Gazette newspaper.

Echoing similar emotions, Al-Qarni stated, “The fact is that our mission as the first Saudi astronauts to visit the International Space Station would not have been possible without the support of our wise leadership.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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Saudi is all set to script history as it is about to send off its first woman astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, along with a fellow Saudi, on their monumental space expedition to ISS on May 9.

Saudi is all set to script history as it is about to send off its first woman astronaut Rayyanah Barnawi, along with a fellow Saudi, on their monumental space expedition to ISS on May 9. During a joint press briefing on Thursday, NASA and Axiom Space officials said that Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni will take off from Florida on a private mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Barnawi, a breast cancer researcher, is the first Saudi woman to embark into space and will be joined by Ali Al-Qarni, a fighter pilot. There are two other astronauts who will join Barnawi and Ali Al-Qarni in their voyage. They are Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut who will be making her fourth flight to the ISS, and John Shoffner, a businessman from Tennessee who will serve as pilot. All four of them will join UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi, who began his six-month mission on March 3, on board the ISS. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will carry the four-member crew and is scheduled for lift-off from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral at 0243 GMT. They will travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule and spend 10 days aboard the orbiting space station. The mission to the ISS, called, Axiom Mission 2, will be the second by Axiom Space, a private US space company. Barnawai was excited when the announcement to the expedition was made. She said that this space voyage would complete the goals of the Kingdom’s space program and will contribute to achieving future explorations in various fields, reported the Saudi Gazette newspaper. Echoing similar emotions, Al-Qarni stated, “The fact is that our mission as the first Saudi astronauts to visit the International Space Station would not have been possible without the support of our wise leadership.” (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Saudi Arabia to put its first female astronaut in space on May 9

We, on Earth, are saved by the planet's magnetosphere and atmosphere from the sun's harmful radiation and galactic cosmic rays which are coming from the exploding stars.&nbsp;

But what about the astronauts, who are at International Space Station (ISS)?&nbsp;

Astronauts in ISS are exposed to higher levels of ionizing radiation which increases the risk of developing cancer throughout their careers. They are protected by the magnetosphere but not the atmosphere.&nbsp;

As per the limit set by NASA, astronauts' radiation exposure limit is not to exceed 3 per cent of the risk of exposure-induced death (REID) from fatal cancer over their career.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/a-galaxy-with-split-personality-heres-what-we-mean-by-this-464411">NASA's Juno spacecraft snaps stunning images of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa</a>

Live Science reported that risk is evaluated with a sliding scale based on age and sex, ranging from a lower career limit of 180 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation for a 30-year-old woman to an upper career limit of 700 mSv for a 60-year-old man.&nbsp;

It is NASA's policy to ensure a 95 per cent confidence level (CL) that this limit is not exceeded. Important to note that these limits are applicable to all missions in low Earth orbit (LEO) as well as lunar missions that are less than 180 days in duration.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, there is a lower career limit for radiation exposure for female astronauts than for male astronauts. Live Science reported quoting R. Julian Preston, who is a special government employee with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Radiation Protection division, that NASA's lower radiation threshold for female astronauts was based on scientific findings.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/a-galaxy-with-split-personality-heres-what-we-mean-by-this-464411">A galaxy with split personality? Here's what we mean by this</a>

As per the report, women had more than twice the risk than men of developing lung cancer when both were exposed to high levels of radiation for similar periods.&nbsp;

Preston told Live Science that "it has been generally considered — based largely on the survivors from the atomic bombs in Japan — that, particularly for lung cancer, that women were more sensitive" to ionizing radiation than men were.&nbsp;

The limit has impacted careers also as for instance, former chief of NASA's astronaut corps Peggy Whitson had to retire in 2018 after she hit her career limit on radiation exposure at age 57. She had raised her voice over the radiation limits for female astronauts.&nbsp;

We, on Earth, are saved by the planet's magnetosphere and atmosphere from the sun's harmful radiation and galactic cosmic rays which are coming from the exploding stars.

We, on Earth, are saved by the planet's magnetosphere and atmosphere from the sun's harmful radiation and galactic cosmic rays which are coming from the exploding stars. But what about the astronauts, who are at International Space Station (ISS)? Astronauts in ISS are exposed to higher levels of ionizing radiation which increases the risk of developing cancer throughout their careers. They are protected by the magnetosphere but not the atmosphere. As per the limit set by NASA, astronauts' radiation exposure limit is not to exceed 3 per cent of the risk of exposure-induced death (REID) from fatal cancer over their career. ALSO READ | NASA's Juno spacecraft snaps stunning images of Jupiter's moons Io and Europa Live Science reported that risk is evaluated with a sliding scale based on age and sex, ranging from a lower career limit of 180 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation for a 30-year-old woman to an upper career limit of 700 mSv for a 60-year-old man. It is NASA's policy to ensure a 95 per cent confidence level (CL) that this limit is not exceeded. Important to note that these limits are applicable to all missions in low Earth orbit (LEO) as well as lunar missions that are less than 180 days in duration. Meanwhile, there is a lower career limit for radiation exposure for female astronauts than for male astronauts. Live Science reported quoting R. Julian Preston, who is a special government employee with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Radiation Protection division, that NASA's lower radiation threshold for female astronauts was based on scientific findings. ALSO READ | A galaxy with split personality? Here's what we mean by this As per the report, women had more than twice the risk than men of developing lung cancer when both were exposed to high levels of radiation for similar periods. Preston told Live Science that "it has been generally considered — based largely on the survivors from the atomic bombs in Japan — that, particularly for lung cancer, that women were more sensitive" to ionizing radiation than men were. The limit has impacted careers also as for instance, former chief of NASA's astronaut corps Peggy Whitson had to retire in 2018 after she hit her career limit on radiation exposure at age 57. She had raised her voice over the radiation limits for female astronauts.

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