Woman Space Tourist Fulfills Dream
Anousheh Ansari at the Russian Space Center in Star City, outside Moscow, Aug. 24, 2006. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
"Looking at my background, (everyone) can see sometimes the impossible can be possible, and dreams can come true."
When the world's first female space tourist met the media on Wednesday in Moscow along with her fellow crewmates, she got a lot more questions than the real astronauts.
Iranian-American entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari is scheduled to blast off for the international space station in mid-September, along with America astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin.
The launch is currently scheduled for Sept. 14, but it may be changed to accommodate a flight by the American space shuttle Atlantis. The launch of Atlantis, which was supposed to have happened last weekend, has been delayed due to storms in Florida.
Whenever she gets under way, Ansari will be fulfilling a lifelong dream.
"Every since I can remember, it's been in my heart and in my soul. I've always been interested and fascinated by space," she said. "Ever since I was a child, I always used to gaze at the stars and wonder what's out there in the universe, and wonder if there are others like me, pondering the same questions somewhere else out there."
Ansari, who was born in Iran and emigrated to the United States as a teenager, will be acknowledging her roots by wearing both American and Iranian flags on her flight suit.
She's paid more than $20 million for her 10-day trip — money she made in the telecommunications business. Ansari may be the first woman to pay for a trip to space, but she's hoping to be a role model to young people of both genders.
"Looking at my background," she says, everyone "can see sometimes the impossible can be possible, and dreams can come true."
Ansari's dream will be coming true a little sooner than she expected. A Japanese businessman was scheduled to fly on September's mission, but he was bumped from the mission last week after failing a medical test. How did Ansari feel when she got the call saying she could fly instead?
"I had to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming, and I'm not sleeping, and it's really happening," she said. "Obviously, it was a big surprise."
Ansari, an electrical engineer by training, is now trying to pioneer space tourism for the masses.
Her family helped sponsor the so-called "X Prize," which was an award for first privately-funded, reusable spacecraft. That prize was won by Burt Rutan's creation SpaceShipOne in 2004. Ansari is now working on development of a new spaceship that would be used solely to fly civilians into orbit.
"I wanted to also use this [trip] to inspire and promote interest in space exploration and other sciences and technology for our youth, because I believe that's very necessary for the future of our race," she said.
The Russian Space Agency, Roskosmos, has always been strongly in favor of space tourism, but NASA, its U.S. counterpart, has had its doubts. Now, with the fourth paying passenger on her way, NASA seems to understand that space tourism is here to stay.
"I think it's important for agencies like Roskosmos and NASA to do what government agencies did for commercial aviation, which is to help promote — to plant the seeds for the industry to take off on its own," explained Lopez-Alegria, Ansari's crewmate. "I think Anousheh's flight, as well as the X Prize that she was involved in, are both good examples of how to do that."
This trip is just the start for Ansari. She's part of a team working to develop a private spacecraft to ferry civilians into orbit — but that's still many years away.
"Given the opportunities, entrepreneurs can come up with very clever, cost-effective ways to achieve space flights, with existing technologies," she explained.
For now, she'll be traveling the only way she can ... on a Russian rocket, with NASA's support ... helping many people to eventually go where she now boldly goes herself.
By Beth Knobel
(CBS) This story was writen by CBS News Moscow bureau chief Beth Knobel
