On this day in 1985: Saudi prince became the first Arab in space

Sultan Salman Abdelize Al-Saud. PIC COURTESY/NASA

On June 17, 1985, the space shuttle Discovery launched on NASA's STS-51G mission, carrying payload specialist Sultan Salman Abdelize 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.

On the mission, he helped deploy a communications satellite called ARABSAT-1B for the Arab Satellite Communications Organisation.

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