Namira Salim, the first Pakistani to travel to space, has returned safely from her journey on Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity. She celebrated her historic achievement as the “FIRST Pakistani Astronaut” and the “First Female Virgin Galactic Founder Astronaut.”
Before her voyage, she expressed pride in raising the national flag in space and embarked on the Galactic 04 mission alongside three other space travelers.
Virgin Galactic delayed the mission briefly for vehicle preparations, allowing three paying customers to experience suborbital space travel, witnessing minutes of weightlessness and the Earth’s curvature against the backdrop of space.
VMS Eve, the carrier plane for VSS Unity, was piloted by Jameel Janjua, a Canadian of Pakistani origin with extensive flying experience. Namira Salim was among the first 100 people to purchase a ticket with Virgin Galactic in 2006, and her ticket cost has since risen to $450,000. Besides her space journey, Salim is the founder of the nonprofit Space Trust and has previously visited both the North and South Poles, making her a pioneer in space exploration and global travel.
