RIYADH: She was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when Anna Fisher’s manager delivered the news that she would be joining a NASA mission to space. 

A few days after giving birth to her daughter in July 1983, Fisher continued her duties and reported to a pilots’ meeting to let co-workers know that she would be part of the mission even after having a baby.  

The nature of the mission was to deploy two communication satellites for the US and retrieve two satellites for refurbishment, and Fisher served as the a robotic arm operator and flight engineer.

Her daughter was only 14 months old when Fisher flew in the space shuttle Discovery from Nov. 8-16, 1984. 

Fisher, a chemist and emergency physician, will forever be the first mother to fly to space. 

“There is nothing I love more than seeing a bunch of people who love space as much as I do,” said Fisher during her presentation “My Journey to Space” on Tuesday at the American Chamber of Commerce business meeting at the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh

AmCham serves as a platform for American businesses to network, socialize, and align their engagement efforts to have a more significant impact on relevant policy issues in the US and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Fisher also shed light on her career highlights, met young girls who looked up to her, and spoke about her visit to the Kingdom. 

She expressed her pleasant surprise regarding the remarkable changes she witnessed since day one in the city of Jeddah. The development and the transformation that took place in the country, she said, were very clear to see since her last visit to Saudi Arabia 10 years ago.

“It is a wonderful time to be a (woman in) Saudi Arabia … right now. Like I said, (you are) catching the wave at just the right time. The young women that are here today in the Kingdom are very lucky to be alive right now as opposed to in the past.”

She added: “I was very privileged to visit Saudi Arabia around 2011. We had our association of space explorers meeting here. And I remember that before I left, I was told I had to have an abaya, even though I was a female astronaut attending a professional meeting… I arrived in Jeddah a few days ago and just arrived today in Riyadh, I am amazed at the changes that I have seen in many respects — the buildings, and the many things going on — but in particular, I am most amazed by how women are being treated and how are they acting.

“The atmosphere is so different than when I was here in 2011.”

Fisher talked about how change can be difficult, yet very rewarding once accomplished. “I am just so happy for the Kingdom for having this vision. And being willing to change because change is hard. We tend to cling to the way things were and traditions. The US, probably 10 years prior to when I became an astronaut, that would’ve never even happened.”