WORDS OF WISDOM IN MONACO
to be the first one ’. He had been training for the last many years to do his space flight and he ’ s very fit . There was no doubt that he would come back successful . And the spaceship has been tested quite a few times now and we ’ ve learned lessons during the test flight program . We were confident also about the safety of the space flight and everything went well .
: When do you expect to fly ?
NS : I think now we will have two more test flights this year and then the commercial operations will begin and the founders will be the first to go . I think in a year or two maximum .
: Are you expected to go with Richard Branson ?
NS : No , Richard Branson has already done his flight . The final choice and selection will be made by Virgin Galactic , because it ’ s about operational safety , it ’ s about body weight , they have to balance everything . But yes , I hope to go up with some of my best friends in the club .
Richard Branson & Namira Salim at a Virgin Galactic party in London Намира с Ричардом Брэнсоном в Лондоне
© Namira Salim
: Do you need special training or special certifications in order to fly ?
NS : I did the training in 2007 . It ’ s called the ‘ sub orbital space flight training ’. And other than that , we will have special training just before we go for about three to five days , I think . Richard Branson went through that exact same training ; he wanted to test the customer experience through his space flight from end to end . He does that to ensure that
Namira Salim and Olga Taran Намира Салим и Ольга Таран every customer , every founder , every future astronaut , has an excellent and smooth experience before , during and after the flight .
: Are you afraid to fly ? Even just a little bit ?
NS : No , not at all . In 2014 , in November , one of our test flights crashed . The pilot died and the co-pilot survived and at that time I was in Monaco and I was interviewed by BBC World and other channels in Europe , and they all asked
© HelloMonaco
me , ‘ Will you still fly ?’ I said , ‘ Branson will still fly to space , he will not cancel the program because I know he ’ s a fighter and he has the winning spirit .’ And two days later , he announced that , yes , the program will not stop . I have faith . The moment of our birth and the moment of our death is destiny , it is written in the stars .
: What gives you this confidence ? Is it religion or your spirit or does it come from your family that you believe in destiny ?
NS : I think it ’ s our upbringing , it ’ s our training from our roots , from our traditions , from our religion and culture . We ’ re not afraid of dying because we think that the next world is the eternal world and I really believe in that . I have faith and I believe that god has given me everything that hardly any woman has , but god has not given me what nearly every woman has , like a marriage or children and I love children . And if I don ’ t get something in this world and if I follow my values correctly , and if I ’ m a good person , I will have the advantage to ask my god and say , ‘ I was very patient in this world , which was a temporary world , about certain things that you did not give me which everyone had . Now you give it to me and you give it to me on my terms .’
: What are your future plans ?
NS : I ’ ve actually written a children ’ s book series of seven books about my life . It ’ s beautiful , it ’ s very inspirational and I ’ m really looking forward to launching that . It ’ s in English and it ’ s an amazing story because I ’ ve written it for children . Poetically I use the English language
Hello Monaco Winter 2021 – 2022 / 41 www . hellomonaco . ru