Engineer Sara Sabry is Egypt’s first female analog astronaut and will be the first Egyptian to fly in space when she joins New Shepard’s 22nd Spaceflight (NS-22). File photo
Sabry, 29, was chosen along with five others to fly in space on New Shepard’s third flight this year, including entrepreneur Mário Ferreira, who will be Portugal’s first person to fly in space.
The other members of the crew are British-American mountaineer Vanessa O’Brien, American technology leader Clint Kelly III, telecommunications manager Steve Young and Coby Cotton, co-founder of YouTube channel Dude Perfect.
The date of the mission will be announced soon, the company said.
“I am honored to represent Egypt in space for the first time. My ancestors always dreamed big and achieved the impossible, and I hope to bring that back. This is just the beginning,” said Sabry, quoted by PR Newswire, after the NS-22 crew announcement.
“I believe that sharing my experience with the world will motivate the younger generation of Egyptians to pursue education and help change the perception of women, showing the world what we are truly capable of,” she added.
New Shepard is a reusable suborbital rocket system operated by Blue Origin, a space tourism company owned by Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Since 2015, the space vehicle has carried astronauts into space on 21 successful sightseeing flights.
Sabry, the founder of the nonprofit Deep Space Initiative, which aims to increase the accessibility of space research, became Egypt’s first female analog astronaut after completing a two-week analog mission to the Moon Last year.
Sabry received her Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the American University in Cairo and her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy.
She is also currently working on her PhD in aerospace science with a focus on spacesuit design, according to Blue Origin.
Sabry’s siege in NS-22 is sponsored by the Colorado-based nonprofit Space for Humanity (S4H), which is interested in improving access to space for all humanity.
Sabry will be the organization’s second astronaut to fly aboard NS-22 after astronaut Katya Echazarreta last month.
We are proud to announce Space for Humanity-2 Citizen Astronaut: Sara Sabry 🚀🚀 When Sara, a mechanical and biomedical engineer, travels to space with BLUE ORIGIN NS-22, she will become the FIRST Egyptian to do so. TO DO. @blueorigin @clubforfuture #egyptinspace pic.twitter.com/ZfooAAG93R
— Space for Humanity (@SpaceHumanity) July 22, 2022
“When we dare to dream big, we achieve things deemed impossible, we break down boundaries, write history and set new challenges for the future,” Sabry said.
“Many Egyptians have lost hope in our future and I hope that by going into space I can help change that; bring hope to people and make them proud of where they come from,” added Sabry.
The Egyptian Space Agency (EGSA) congratulated and expressed its support for Sabry on Saturday for his planned trip aboard NS-22.
Space for Humanity Executive Director Rachel Lyons congratulated Sabry on being chosen for this life-changing adventure.
“We know she will be an incredible ambassador for our mission and we can’t wait to see how she uses this opportunity to change the world,” Lyons added.
*Read Al-Ahram Hebdo’s interview with Sara Sabry*
Short link:
