First Saudi Woman in Space Says: 'Hello From Outer Space'

Rayyanah Barnawi, the first Arab woman to go on a space mission,  spoke live from the Dragon capsule, on her journey towards the orbiting outpost for an eight-day trip.

"Hello from outer space," Barnawi said.

"It feels amazing to be viewing Earth from this capsule. We're here feeling microgravity, thanks to our kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our leaders King Salman and the visionary Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"Special thanks to my grandmother and my awesome family and friends.

"And to the people around the world – the future is very big. I want you to dream big and believe in yourselves and believe in humanity."

The research laboratory scientist and her fellow Saudi Ali Al Qarni, along with American colleagues Peggy Whitson and Jeff Shoffner successfully launched on board a Space X Falcon 9 rocket towards the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, May 21st at 5:37 p.m. (EDT time).

Meanwhile, Al Qarni said that he believed their arrival in space was "historic for every Saudi."

"As I look outside into space, I can't help but think that it's the start of a great journey for all of us," he said.

This Axiom 2 space mission has been assigned 20 experiments, 14 of which have been assigned to Barnawi and Al Qarni. 

These experiments include cloud seeding in a reaction chamber, and observing the inflammatory response of immune cells in microgravity.