Friday March 29th, 2024
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27-Year-Old Becomes NASA's First Egyptian Astronaut

One determined young Egyptian man is about to make his way into space...

Staff Writer

27-Year-Old Becomes NASA's First Egyptian Astronaut

An Egyptian communications engineer just became Egypt’s first NASA astronaut. According to the Munich University website 27-year-old Akram Abdellatif, a researcher at Munich Technical University in Germany, was able to achieve his lifelong goal by sacrificing everything in its pursuit.

There has never been an Egyptian astronaut, but that didn't stop Akram Abdellatif from realising his dream of going into space. Currently writing his doctoral thesis at TUM’s Institute of Flight System Dynamics, Abdellatif tireless efforts are clearly paying off. Recently the future spaceman was accepted into the POSSUM research program, supported by US space agency, NASA, and will be training for this out of this world space-mission beginning next week.

Outside of his studies, Abdellatif is pursuing a raft of other activities to bring him closer to touching the stars. "I made sure I knew what qualifications I would need as an astronaut," he explains. "Egyptian nationality makes it more challenging. So everything else has to be just right," explains Abdellatif. To secure his spot in being part of mission, he joined the non-profit organisation Astronauts 4 Hire, which trains motivated individuals for trips to space. Thankfully this program doesn't consider nationality  a factor, and it's becoming more and more evident now, that Egyptians from all walks of life, are breaking that green passport boundary and reaching for the stars with a little bit of extra hard work, and unmatched determination. Hopefully it's all a matter of time before the final frontier becomes an Egyptian one.