NORA AL MATROOSHI
AI ot many people can say that their job is one they have set their sights on since they were five years old.
But for Nora Al Matrooshi, her childhood dream will become a reality when she embarks on her first space mission – making her the first Emirati woman in space.
Driven by her mantra“ do what makes you happy,” Nora completed her two-year training course at NASA’ s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston two years ago and is now the first female Emirati astronaut.
“ I’ m very excited,” she told Technology Magazine at GITEX Europe in Berlin.“ This is something I’ ve wanted for a very long time and I’ ve trained very hard. It’ s a dream come true to be able to go to space.”
No stranger to the magnitude of the journey ahead of her, mechanical engineer Nora’ s training means she has been immersed in a world where technology is constantly advancing.
“ Technologies are changing every day. Part of our role as astronauts is to test out these technologies,” she explains.“ We’ re aiming to go to the Moon, we’ re aiming to go to Mars, so new technologies are being built and tested by astronauts all over the world at NASA, JAXA and ESA. It’ s exciting to see these developments and to be able to test them out.”
NORA AL MATROOSHI
TITLE: ASTRONAUT
ORGANISATION: MOHAMMED BIN RASHID SPACE CENTRE
INDUSTRY: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Nora Al Matrooshi is the first Arab woman to graduate from NASA’ s astronaut programme. A holder of a mechanical engineering from the United Arab Emirates University, she hopes to inspire a new generation as the UAE’ s first female astronaut.
96 July 2025