Space · a Light

The first Muslim in space watched the crescent from orbit

On 17 June 1985 the space shuttle Discovery lifted off with Sultan bin Salman al-Saud aboard as a payload specialist for the launch of an Arab communications satellite. He was twenty eight, the first Muslim, the first Arab and the first member of a royal family to go into space. He carried a Qur'an with him. He also carried a practical question that later Muslim astronauts would have to answer formally: how to keep prayer times and face Makkah in a vehicle that circles the earth roughly every ninety minutes.

Sultan bin Salman al-Saud · 17 June 1985