After becoming the first Pakistani to go to both North and South Pole, and becoming the first South Asian to skydive over Mount Everest, 37-year-old Namira Salim is all set to become the first Pakistani to go into space, and hopes to make peace there.
“I love my title ‘first Pakistani astronaut’, it’s like being a very special princess of the country. Maybe nicer than being a princess,” The Dawn quoted Salim, as saying. Salim’s venture, however, comes with a heavy price tag. Salim, in her bid to fulfill her childhood dream, has invested a whopping $200,000 to sign up with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic space tourism project, slated for take off next year.
Salim, who is currently based in Monaco, funded her trip with support from her family, who run a heavy construction equipment firm in the UAE. Salim said the money she has paid is an investment in a commercial industry that will one day replace government space agencies and enable researchers, satellites, and tourists, to go up at a fraction of the current cost. She also believes space travel can eventually play a role in world peace.
“We hope one day politicians could be taken up in space,” she said.