Have you ever wondered what it’s like to travel to space? 

Join us for an exciting talk and Q&A with Dr. Anna Fisher, the first mother who traveled to space, and Dr. Reem Taibah, a Saudi physicist and researcher, as they delve into questions around exploration of the known and unknown, how they’ve navigated their careers as women in male-dominated industries, and their contributions and impact on science, clean energy and technology globally.  

Hear about their personal insights, the importance of STEM in today’s world and the power of resilience and human performance in breaking barriers and traditional stereotypes.

This event is co-organised with the US Consulate in Jeddah. 

Free and open to all; RSVP required due to limited seats.

Dr. Reem Taibah is a physicist and researcher specialising in experimental particle physics, the exploration of the small and its links to the origins of the universe. Since obtaining her PhD, she has published several papers to improve detection materials and technical systems – progressive contributions to her field from time spent and research undertaken at the Laboratory for Nuclear and High Energy Physics (LPNHE) in Paris as well as the Max-Planck Institute (Werner Heissenberg) in Munich. Through her academic research, she has also worked at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), specializing in the development of the detector for the ATLAS experiment and gone on to achieve a qualified ATLAS author position.

Dr. Anna Fisher was selected as one of the first six female astronauts by NASA in January 1978, and would become the first mother to travel to space in 1984. She studied Chemistry and became a physician specialising in emergency medicine, a role that would support and contribute to her space missions in later years. 

Dr. Fisher has been involved with the Space Shuttle Program where she engaged in NASA’s first salvage mission to bring two satellites back to Earth, the early phase and operations of the International Space Station, and recently the Orion capsule that is being developed for NASA’s future space launch system. She is considered one of the longest-serving astronauts in the agency’s history, and continues to work as a management astronaut despite retiring from the agency in 2017.