Ezzy Pearson interviews Nora Al Matrooshi
In April 2021, the UAE announced its second class of astronauts, including its first ever female astronaut Nora Al Matrooshi
When did you first want to become an astronaut?
Around the age of five or six. We were studying the Solar System at school and the teacher pitched a tent in the middle of our classroom. When we went in the lights were turned off and she had everything covered in pieces of grey cloth to look like the Moon. That was the day when I decided that I wanted to become an astronaut and see for myself what the surface of the Moon looked like.
How did you start preparing to become an astronaut?
At times, it seemed impossible, but I chose to study mechanical engineering because I wanted to become an astronaut. I selected the university I went to because I knew that it had an internship programme with NASA. I believe that regardless of whether you want to be an astronaut, you have to develop yourself and gain different skills. If you just focus on one aspect, you’re going to be lacking in others. So to be an astronaut, you have to have good leadership skills and good teamwork skills. I tried to be as diverse as possible.
What was the selection process like?
We had to do IQ and psychometric tests, as well as tests measuring technical skills and some teamwork exercises. We also did physical tests, which measured our endurance and strength. Finally I was interviewed by a panel of astronauts. Hazza Al Mansouri and Sultan Al Neyadi, the first two Emirati astronauts, were there and that was a big deal. And then there were two female astronauts from NASA. I got so excited that I was going to ask if I could take a picture with them, but I forgot to ask. I guess now I’ll have more chances to ask for pictures!
What did it feel like when you were told you were an astronaut?
It was amazing. Unreal. Obviously, I was ecstatic at that time, but then it actually started to sink in about the role I’d be playing and the amount of responsibility that came with this title of being an astronaut. I’m going to be representing a whole country.
When will your training start?
[Fellow candidate] Mohammed Al Mulla and I haven’t started the actual training. That will be next year at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, with the new batch of NASA astronaut candidates. Currently, we’re undergoing some initial training at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. We’ve started learning Russian and we’ve got our diving licences, and we are doing some survival and flight training.
You’re the first female UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut. Has your gender affected your path to becoming an astronaut?
No, I believe that everyone was given the same opportunity. For you to select people to represent what you’re working on, you wouldn’t just pick anyone based on their gender or their last name, because you have to make sure that person is good enough for that role and capable of achieving what you expect of them. One third of the applicants for the second batch of astronauts were female. On the Emirates Mars mission, 80 per cent of the team scientists were women. The chair of the UAE Space Agency and the Emirati Minister of State for Advanced Sciences is actually a woman, Sarah bint Yousef Al Amiri. There are a lot of women in the UAE in space industry.
What are the UAE’s space goals?
The astronaut office at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre is aiming to build a sustainable and diverse team of competent Emirati astronauts that are qualified and equipped to take on any mission in the future. Currently there are no set missions, but if you have a team ready, you can instantly send them off to any type of mission that would come.
What mission do you really want to do?
I really, really want to make it to the Moon. It’s what got me interested in space. It’s the first memory I have of me wanting to be an astronaut and walk on the surface of the Moon. I’d really like to be part of the Artemis mission.
Nora Al Matrooshi was selected as an Emirati astronaut in April 2021 and will join NASA Astronaut Group 23 for training.
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Watch the full interview with Nora Al Matrooshi in the Bonus Content.