Namira Salim is an award-winning adventurer, future astronaut and multi-disciplinary artist based in Monaco and Dubai. She has many world firsts under her belt, such as being the first Pakistani and the first woman from Monaco to have reached both the North Pole and the South Pole.
She is also the only one from Pakistan and also the first one from Monaco among the first aspiring Virgin Galactic astronauts. She spoke with Hello Monaco about her many trailblazing adventures and endeavours, including skydiving over Mount Everest, meeting Richard Branson and her non-profit initiative which promotes space as the new frontier for Peace. HelloMjnaco: When did you begin dreaming about going to space?
Namira Salim: I was born with the dream. I feel a connection and I feel a pull as if something is calling me to go out there. I feel that that is the final destination, in the stars, we will all return to the stars one day. HM: When did you purchase your ticket for the space flight? NS: It was in January of I signed the contract in Monaco, in the Hotel de Paris at the Grill overlooking the palace and the port.
The commercial director of Virgin Galactic flew here and I signed as the first person to go to space from Monaco and I also ended up becoming the first Pakistani future astronaut. This was not expected, but Richard Branson came to Dubai in March , two months after I signed up with the inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic.
He decided that he would also launch Virgin Galactic in Dubai. Richard Branson introduced me to the global media as one of the earliest founders.
