Top 100 Arabs 2024

87. Rayyanah Barnawi

Astronaut

Origin: Saudi Arabia

Residence: Saudi Arabia

Sector: Space

2023 Rank: 82

Rayyanah Barnawi is a Saudi astronaut who served as a mission specialist on the Ax-2 mission. A biomedical researcher with almost a decade of experience in cancer stem-cell research, Barnawi worked to facilitate Saudi Arabia’s scientific research as mission specialist aboard Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Ax-2.

Barnawi made history as the first Saudi female astronaut to go to space in 2023. She is also one of the first Saudi astronauts to visit the International Space Station.

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