Posted on 09/15/2006 12:44:44 PM PDT by Rio
United States entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari has been training for six months to get away from it all. Unlike most tourists, she won't be sporting a camera around her neck, and come Monday she won't need a boarding pass to get on her flight.
That's because Ansari is no ordinary sightseer. In just three days she will escape the bounds of Earth to float around in the International Space Station (ISS) for 10 days. Iranian-American Ansari, the first female space tourist, will hitch a ride to the ISS aboard the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule along with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and U.S. astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria.
Originally a backup for Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto, Ansari was confirmed as a primary crewmember when Enomoto was disqualified late last month from flying due to a health concern. She has been in quarantine since September 2 in Baikonur, Kazakhstan and has been keeping a blog to share her experience with those dreaming of spacelight, an effort Ansari wishes to continue as an outreach project upon her return.
In a telephone interview with SPACE.com, Ansari discussed the hardest part of her training, the most anticipated part of her trip, and why she takes offense to the term "space tourist."
The actual interview is at the link.
I hope women in Iran will know about her.
Not that it really matters, but will she be the first Muslim in space - Of either gender? That might twist some turbans if its true.....
And an American woman as well
Allah snackbar. ;)
This the same Ansari who sponsored the "X-prize" that Burt Rutan won last year?
"...I have slipped the surly bonds of earth..."
Hope to see more of this in the future!
WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE FLYING CARS BY NOW!!!
Wikipedia says 1st female muslim
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anousheh_Ansari
"This the same Ansari who sponsored the "X-prize" that Burt Rutan won last year?"
Yup. Same one.
Good for her!
I wonder how she will know which direction Mecca is in.
A Saudi prince flew on the shuttle in 1985.
http://www.astronautix.com/astros/alsaud.htm
Is she even a practicing muslim? I would say not very much since doing all the things she is doing is probably not allowed.
Yes, and get those macho idiots' panties in a twist, too.
Not nearly as cute as Rudi Bahktiar sp? on Fox.
I have heard her call herself a very liberal Muslim. Kind of like some distant relatives in my family - they were born into a Muslim family, and know about the holidays, but that's about it.
We need more muslims like her thats for sure!
Godspeed to her and may her flight inspire the women in Iran to cry freedom.
I'm thinking this is not going to sit well with most imams.
I cant say until she takes off the space suit.
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