NASA rocket to bear name of Egyptian woman killed in protests

[denem]

Source: MSN NEWS

Cairo: The US' space agency NASA has okayed the naming of one of its spaceships after a young Egyptian woman killed in late January during an anti-government protest, according to Egyptian daily Al-Masry-al-Youm.

The paper quoted Essam Mohamed Haji, a young researcher at NASA, as saying Thursday that he had received approval to put the young woman Sally Zahran's name on a spaceship heading for Mars.

Zahran, an English graduate and translator, died after she was beaten on the head Jan 28 with truncheons during clashes with security forces in in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag. Anti-government protesters claim her killers were thugs in the pay of police.

"This is the least we could provide to Egyptian youth and revolutionaries. This step represents transferring the dreams of Egyptian youth from a small stretch of earth to the enormous expanse of space," Haji was cited as telling Al-Masri Al-Youm by phone from California.

Report 2

NASA honors martyred Sally Zahran by putting name on spacecraft

Dr. Essam Mohamed Haji, a young researcher at the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), said that he received approval from NASA to put Sally Zahran's name on a spaceship heading for Mars.

Sally Zahran was mercilessly clubbed to death during Tahrir demonstrations. Haji said in a telephone call from his office in California that it is a tradition in NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to write names of notable people on space ships at the request of a NASA staff member or any US citizen. Haji stressed that he made a request to put martyred Sally Zahran's name on the spacecraft in order to honor her.

“This is the least we could provide to Egyptian youth and revolutionaries. This step represents transferring the dreams of Egyptian youth from a small stretch of earth to the enormous expanse of space,” said Haji to Al-Mary Al-Youm...

Haji said to Al-Masry Al-Youm that "standing in Tahrir is like setting foot upon the moon." He likened those standing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square--a central site for recent protests in Egypt--to the first man who set foot upon the moon. He said both started by a dream and changed the world's view of human potential.


http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/nasa-honors-martyred-sally-zahran-putting-name-spacecraft

Read more: http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4908012

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'Sally Zahran was mercilessly clubbed to death during Tahrir demonstrations' . Although NASA's Mars spaceship is not formally titled "The Sally Zahran", her name will be carried into to space, approved by NASA, written by a young Egyptian to honor her sacrifice, and the aspirations of the Egyptian people. Her dream will rise from a 'small stretch of earth" into the infinite space of human potential.

[GReedDiamond]

1. knr...nt

[Jefferson23]

2. Wow. n/t

[hlthe2b]

3. Proud to acknowledge & recommend

[Shadowflash]

4. Very cool!

[Firebrand Gary]

5. Thank you Nasa, and who or whatever your god may they bless Sally Zahran.

"People have always been impressed by the power of our example, not the example of our power" ~ President Clinton

[NuclearDem]

6. Proudly rec'd

NASA impresses me sometimes...this is definitely one of those times.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LongTomH]

8. K&R for a brave lady!

I hope this young lady's family and friends hear about this!:kick:

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended for NASA.

Thanks for the thread, denem.:thumbsup:

[somone]

10. Are they talking about NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" program?

http://marsparticipate.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/participate/sendyourname/