Kurdish astronaut leads NASA mission to the International Space Station

Kurdish-American Jasmin Moghbeli arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday heading a NASA mission from the Kennedy Space Centre.

Her team, Crew-7, is expected to spend six months at the ISS, joining Expedition 69 members including UAE astronaut Sultan Al Neyadi to collect data.

UAE 🇦🇪 Astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi and his crewmates aboard the @Space_Station during the welcoming ceremony of Crew-7 astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli, Andreas Mogensen (ESA), Satoshi Furukawa (JAXA), and cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov (Roscosmos).@MBRSpaceCentre pic.twitter.com/wmpiCWosQN

— حسن سجواني 🇦🇪 Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) August 27, 2023

Prior to boarding the space shuttle, the 40-year-old, who is of Iranian-Kurdish descent, said her passion for space exploration was a result of curiosity. “We’re curious beings; we want to know what is out there.”

“It’s a human thing to explore. Humans have always wanted to push the boundaries. We're curious beings; we want to know what is out there.”
@AstroJaws is commander of NASA’s @SpaceX Crew-7 mission, which just arrived at the @Space_Station. Here's her astronaut journey. pic.twitter.com/rpsXStVMQg

— Women@NASA (@WomenNASA) August 28, 2023

Moghbeli holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

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