Mariam Fardous
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Mariam H. Fardous (; born 15 September 1984) is a Saudi astronaut, selected as a back-up astronaut for
Axiom Mission 2 Axiom Mission 2 (or Ax-2) was a private crewed spaceflight operated by Axiom Space. Ax-2 was launched on 21 May 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, successfully docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on 22 May. After eight days docked to t ...
by the
Saudi Space Commission The Saudi Space Agency (SSA; ), previously known as the Saudi Space Commission (SSC), is an independent entity of the Government of Saudi Arabia established by a royal order issued on December 27, 2018, and elevated to agency status on June 14, 2 ...
; her selection was officially announced on February 12, 2023. She is a Saudi
epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population, and application of this knowledge to prevent diseases. It is a cornerstone ...
,
humanitarian Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotiona ...
,
scuba diver Scuba, originally SCUBA, often expanded to scuba set, is any self contained underwater breathing apparatus, a source of breathing gas used for underwater diving which is carried by the diver. Scuba may also refer to: * Scuba diving Scuba ...
who was raised in
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
. She became the first Saudi woman and the first Arab woman to dive deep in the
Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...
(North Arctic Circle) on 1 May 2015. On 16 April 2016, Mariam became the first ever Arab woman and only the third woman to dive in the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
. She received the
Bachelor of Medicine A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...
degree after graduating from the
King Abdul Aziz University King Abdulaziz University (KAU) () is a public research university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1967 as a private university by a group of businessmen led by Muhammad Bakhashab and including author Hamza Bogary, it was named after ...
in 2009. She also became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to attempt for scuba diving in 2015, at a time where women in the country were not even allowed to drive vehicles until September 2017.


Career


Medical career

She received the MBBS degree from KAU University,
Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...
in 2009 and holds master's degree with honors in epidemiology from College of Public Health and Health Informatics of KSAU-HS in 2017. She also has a diploma of business administration from the
Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...
.


Emergence as a scuba diver

Fardous worked as a doctor after she graduated from the Medical College of KAU in 2009. She had already learned to dive in the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
the year before as she was inspired by the stories about diving there which were told by her father when she was a child. She decided to be the first Arab women to dive deep in the Arctic Ocean and then to reach the North Pole Her attempt interested the Saudi women community as they were generally prohibited from
driving Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a land vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. A driver's permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met, and drivers are required to ...
, competing in sports under restricted
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
and
Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...
law. Many of these were relaxed in 2017. On 1 May 2015, she became the first Arab woman to cross the North Arctic Circle and later on 16 April 2016 (at the age of 33), she became the first Arab woman and third overall woman to dive in the North Pole. She was the first Saudi physician to dive in North Pole.


Humanitarian work

On 7 November 2007, the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia recognised Fardous's three years of humanitarian work during the
Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
seasons. On 15 September 2015, she was appointed as the Ambassador for the African Non-profit organization African Impacts. She has also visited to countries including South Africa, Lebanon and Greece to provide medical facilities to the people in need under the association of
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...
.


Astronaut

She was announced as a member of the Saudi astronaut corps in February 2023. Her first assignment is back-up crew of
Axiom Mission 2 Axiom Mission 2 (or Ax-2) was a private crewed spaceflight operated by Axiom Space. Ax-2 was launched on 21 May 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon 9, successfully docking with the International Space Station (ISS) on 22 May. After eight days docked to t ...
.


References


Further reading

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fardous, Mariam 1984 births Living people People from Mecca Mariam Mariam Mariam Mariam Mariam Women epidemiologists Women astronauts King Abdulaziz University alumni Missouri State University alumni 21st-century Saudi Arabian medical doctors