Interview with Anousheh Ansari, the First Female Space Tourist

space.com ^ | 9/15/2006 | Sara Goudarzi

[nuconvert]

It's hard to look your best in a space suit. But give her 30 mins in the makeup chair, and I'll bet she'd give Rudi competition. ;~ )

[KevinDavis]

[Kirkwood]

A muslim woman is not allowed to be in the company of men unless she has a male guardian (father, brother, husband) and even then it is usually not acceptable.

[SunkenCiv]

I'm sure the fact that she had to resort to Russian spacecraft says something.

[Dixiekraut]

No doubt the mullahs will have a time trying to put their spin on this development...probably try to portray her as corrupted by the Americans and Russians..but the younger generation over there will love it..good propaganda move.

http://www.gmu.edu/alumni/spirit/00fall/ansari.html

http://www.anoushehansari.com/

[Vaquero]

heck of a see through burkah head piece.

[MarineBrat]

Maybe one of us should "ask the imam" what to do?

[jmcenanly]

No, there was another STS-51G Discovery (June 17-24, 1985). ,Sultan Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud flew as a payload specialist,representing represented the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (ARABSAT) in deploying their satellite, ARABSAT-1B.

After the flight, several Mullahs declared a fatwa against human spaceflight in general

[goldstategop]

I'm really proud of her as an American. She built her own businesses and achieved a dream that once was out of reach for her. I hope Anousheh Ansari finds the heavens everything she sought and more. To quote from Robert Browning, "If man's reach ne'er exceed his grasp, then what's heaven for?"

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[goldstategop]

Its a private venture. Privately financed. And yes, they're still called cosmonauts in Russia.

(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )

[COEXERJ145]

Story Musgrave once said he would rather fly on the Soyuz than the space shuttle. He considered the shuttle a death trap and that Soyuz, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo are/were thousands of times safer.

[NonZeroSum]

Not that it really matters, but will she be the first Muslim in space

No, a Saudi prince flew back in the eighties. And it doesn't matter...

[Jason_b]

Your question is worth thinking about. It is also worth thinking about why you might ask it. On FR we see threads that spotlight the primitive islamic element. It is a large population, most of them are poor and uneducated beyond your imagination. And they will always be poor, uneducated, and behave like wild animals, like feral cats. Like the wild child found surviving in the woods, there were things she could not be taught because she had passed a certain teachable age. Back to topic: "Behead those who insult Islam!!!," those types become the official Free Republic stereotype for all muslims. This stereotype justifies the armchair generals' "kill em all!" responses to such threads.

But then you have this type of muslim. I worked with one. Educated, comfortable income, civilized, loves the US, loves freedom, name is Mohammed. He was cool to the team and the team treated him no differently than everyone else. There was seldom any discussion of religion. But I gather he simply had enough education since childhood that he could see the Koran for what it is, the muslim book, and not feel he has to do everything it tells muslims to do down to killing infidels. He could still fast at ramadan, have family over for eid, pray at a mosque, do that stuff, and live like an American. He would not agree that he is non-practicing. He might feel a little sad that the view FR has of muslims is that if a muslim is good, he must be non-practicing. He practices his religion his way, and it didn't appear to include the notion that islam must dominate the world. He coexisted quite well. I feel bad for him sometimes when reading posts that suggest all muslims are as seen in the pictures, yelling, screaming. His sort of muslim compared to the worlds' muslims may be a fraction of a percent, I don't know. I didn't have the heart to ask him what he thought of those muslims, but if I were to guess, I'd guess he views them as we do, backward fanatics, and wishes they'd disappear, and stop embarassing his religion as he practices it. Because of the way they are, he can't just say he's a muslim, he has to qualify it with "liberal" muslim, so as not to be taken for the wild kind everyone now expects a muslim to be.

I myself would just as soon terminate in massive numbers muslims who are a threat to the west as I would German Nazis, communists of any race or nationality, or Japanese imperial fanatics. But I would not stereotype to the point of denying the existence of muslims like this lady, or my teammate. To stereotype that far is a sort of fanaticism in itself. If there is another 911, it will be people like my teammate and this astronaut lady who will be threatened and menaced by the mob mentality.

[Names Ash Housewares]

At one time some who called themselves christians committed great acts of horror on people. Times change, beliefs evolve and radicalism purged. Islam may be no different in time. And in Iraq we see many fighting and even dying by our side for the civilized world as evidence of this. I cant see how anyone could argue that a muslim that lays down his life fighting by Americans against terrorists is not worthy of respect.

[Names Ash Housewares]

PS

Maybe Ansari's flight in addition to inspiring Iranian women and people under the boot of radical beliefs, will also open the eyes of people in this country about American Muslims who paint them all with a broad brush.

[hoagy62]

Sultan Al Saud. Handsome devil, to be sure.

[Jason_b]

That's a good thought. And I might mention that those who paint with a broad brush are a small minority, lest I paint with too large a brush myself.

A few of the young may be inspired but I don't hold out much hope for the old (17 and over). In my estimation, I believe those who are as you say under the boot of radical beliefs are less like those who would get up if the boot were removed, and more like those who are incorrigible and unrehabilitable career criminals who need to be locked up for life---they are hard wired to be as they are, and will always wage war against the west. And they will always raise their children to think as they do. They are the vast majority and we will have to be much more vigilant against them than we have been.

[RightWhale]

spaceflightnow.com
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying the international space station's next commander, flight engineer and a U.S. entrepreneur who hopes to pioneer commercial space exploration, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Monday and rocketed safely into orbit.

Climbing away from the same launch pad used by Yuri Gagarin 45 years ago, the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft climbed away through a clear blue sky, cheered on by Russian and NASA managers, engineers and family members who flew in from Moscow.

At the controls of the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft was veteran cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and NASA flight engineer Mike Lopez-Alegria. Along for the ride was Anousheh Ansari, an American entrepreneur and long-time space enthusiast who reportedly paid the Russians around $20 million for a visit to the space station.

"Let's go!" one of the crew members exclaimed as the Soyuz roared to life. A few minutes later, Tyurin reported, "We feel fine, insignificant vibration, the G force is rising stably, smoothly."

Nine minutes after liftoff, the spacecraft slipped into its planned preliminary orbit, deployed its two solar panels and radio antennas and set off after the international space station for a linkup early Wednesday.

---

Must be a thousand people have been in space.

[Jason_b]

They make it sound easy. Thanks for the enjoyable read. Maybe one day when prices come down a bit, I'll be able to go.