Mishaal Ashemimry
Early Life
Mishaal Ashemimry was born in the US in 1984. She spent a few years of her early life in Saudi. It was here that her interest in space began. At age 6, she felt inspired while gazing at the stars in the Unaizah desert. To feed her curiosity, she decided to learn how to build rockets so she could go to space one day.
Ashemimry has two bachelor's degrees. One is in aerospace engineering, and the other is in applied maths. She has also earned her master's in aerospace engineering. NASA has funded her research.
Year born: 1984
Research Areas: Aerodynamics
"Failure is the seed from which success grows."
Jasmin Moghbeli
Early Life
Jasmin Moghbeli was born in 1983 in Bad Nauheim, West Germany. Her parents were born and raised in Iran. Moghbeli went to high school in New York. After this, she earned her bachelor's in aerospace engineering at MIT.
She then went on to do her master's degree in aerospace engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School in California. Following this, Moghbeli graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School in Maryland. Moghbeli speaks Persian and English and learned Russian as part of her astronaut training.
Year born: 1983
Research Areas: Flight testing and Spaceflight
Maram Kaire
Early Life
Maram Kaire was born in Dakar, Senegal, in 1978. Since he was 12, he has been interested in astronomy. He read books about space and even built a telescope at the age of 14! At the time, astronomy was not popular in Senegal.
There weren't many jobs or courses in the field. His parents did not want him to study space, so he chose computer science instead. Later, he moved to France to study Systems and Network Engineering. After that, he returned to Senegal to inspire his country's interest in space.
Year born: 1978
Research Areas: Space missions coordination, asteroids, and education
"Space is open for everyone; it belongs to everyone."
Joyful Mdhluli
Early Life
Joyful Mdhluli grew up in Mpumalanga, South Africa. She is proud to be the first person in her family to attend university. Joyful earned her Bachelor's, Master's and PhD degrees from the University of Witwatersrand.
At first, she wasn't sure if she wanted to become a physicist. But, during her Master's studies, she realised that a career in physics would help her reach her full potential.
Year born: 1992
Research Areas: Astronomy for Mental Health, Experimental Physics, Particle Physics, Material Science
Víctor Manuel Blanco
Early Life
Víctor Manuel Blanco was born in Guyana on March 10th, 1918. He took an interest in astronomy from a young age. He built a telescope in his backyard and even named his pigs after asteroids!
At first, he was studying to become a doctor, but after taking an astronomy course, he realised he wanted to be an astronomer.
Year born: 1918
Research Areas: Stellar populations
Sara Sabry
Early Life
Sara Sabry was a curious child, and she has always loved space. She earned her degree in Cairo, where she grew up. Her degree is in Mechanical Engineering, with a focus on Mechatronics.
After this, she did her Master's in Biomedical Engineering, and she earned this in Italy. At present, Sabry is doing her PhD in Aerospace Sciences. Her PhD is at the UND NASA funded Human Spaceflight lab!
Year born: 1993
Research Areas: Planetary spacesuits
"Believing in myself and believing it was possible is what led me to be the first in something."
Amira Hussein
Early Life
By the age of 23, Amira had achieved her bachelor's and master's degrees. They were both gained in the Space Science Field at Helwan University, Egypt. Her projects included studying space weather, the Earth's upper atmosphere and computer programming.
Once she had graduated, Amira then spent a year at Helwan University working as a teaching assistant.
Year born: 1988
Research Areas: Aeronomy and Space Weather
Farouk El-baz
Early Life
Farouk El-Baz was born in 1938 in Zagazig. In school, he liked science. He earned his bachelor's degree in Chemistry-Geology in 1958 in Egypt. In 1961, he got his master's in geology.
After this, in 1964, he got his PhD also in geology. During his PhD, he did research at MIT. When he was a child, he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, where he touched the Black Stone. This made him come up with the idea of touchable moon rocks at museums.
Year born: 1938
Research Areas: Geology
"No matter where you come from or what challenges you face, always do the best possible job you can. Run behind your dreams, embrace your heritage, and never stop learning."
Crewed Missions
Humans have been travelling to space since the 1950s.
We have used telescopes to study space for centuries, but it was the invention of massive rockets which finally let us explore space in person.
Valentina Tereshkova
