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  • 17/06/2025
On June 17, 1985, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched on NASA's STS-51-G mission, carrying payload specialist Sultan Salman Abdulaziz Al Saud, a Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who became the first Arab and first Muslim in space.

And because he was a prince in the House of Saud, he became the first member of a royal family to go to space. He was 28 years old at the time and holds the record for being the youngest person to fly on the space shuttle. During the mission, he helped deploy a communications satellite called ARABSAT-1B for the Arab Satellite Communications Organization.
Transcript
00:00On this day in space. In 1985, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched on NASA's STS-51G mission
00:08carrying payload specialist Sultan Salman Abdul Aziz Al Saud, a Royal Saudi Air Force pilot who
00:14became the first Arab and first Muslim in space. And because he was a prince in the House of Saud,
00:20he became the first member of a royal family to go to space. He was 28 years old at the time and
00:25holds the record for being the youngest person to fly on the space shuttle. During the mission,
00:28he helped deploy a communications satellite called Arabsat-1B for the Arab Satellite Communications
00:34Organization. And that's what happened on this day in space.

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