News: Russia Sends Iranian Female into Orbit

Russia Sends Iranian Female into Orbit

http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?idr=1&id=671554

May 08, 2006 - Kommersant

Space Tourism
The Russian Federal Space Agency officially announced that Iranian born
Anoushe Ansari would travel in space on the Soyuz aircraft next spring.
It is not an official Russian-Iranian flight, since Ms. Ansari, a U.S.
citizen, is to fund the flight on her own to become the first female
space tourist. The Ansari family is also well known for investing in
space tourism projects.
Alexey Krasnov, the head of the Federal Space Agency's department for
pilot programs, said on Friday that Anoushe Ansari, the ethnic Iranian
U.S. citizen, is to become an alternate for Japan's Daisuke Enomoto
who is to set to fly to the International Space Station this fall on
the Russian Soyuz. "We have signed a pre-contract agreement with
Ansari. She is considered an alternate for the Japanese cosmonaut,"
Mr. Krasnov said. "Besides that, Ansari is to travel on the Soyuz as
an unprofessional participant of the flight, scheduled for spring
2007." The representative of the Russian space agency explained that
there are now two candidates for this flight - Ms. Ansari and
Microsoft's former employee, Charles Simonyi. However, Mr.
Simonyi's plans may change due to "some recent developments,
related to his business." "Therefore Ansari has better chances to
set off in spring 2007. She underwent medical tests in February and was
declared fit for the flight," Alexey Krasnov concluded.

Anoushe Ansari was born in 1967 in Teheran. Her family immigrated to
the United States after the Islamic Revolution. Ms. Ansari, her husband
Hamid and his brother Amir founded Telecom Technologies in the U.S. to
produce telecommunication equipment. The business brought multi-million
revenues to the family. After Telecom Technologies merged with Sonus
Netword in 2000, the Ansaris set up Prodea Inc., an investment firm.
The family has heavily invested in space tourism for a few years.
Prodea became the major sponsor of the X-Prize in 2004, contributing
$10 million for the contest to build the first private suborbital space
flight. After the donation, the contest was renamed to Ansari X-Prize.
Mojave Aerospace Ventures won the prize in October 2004 after its
SpaceShipOne spacecraft had gone twice to the height of over 100 km
over two weeks.

Space Adventures, which has lately in charge with flights of space
tourists on Russian Soyuz's, signed an agreement with Prodea in
February to finance the construction of Explorer suborbital spacecrafts
at the Myasishchev factory in Russia. Space Adventures and Prodea also
agreed to use airdromes in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arabic Emirates, and
in Singapore for suborbital launches of Explorers. The third airdrome
will be found in the United States. Investments in the revamping of the
airdromes and the organization of suborbital spacecrafts' flights may
cost about $0.5 billion. The market of suborbital tourist flights is
worth of $1 billion annually, according to Space Adventures's early
estimates.

A source of Kommersant at the Russian Space Agency reported that
Anoushe Ansari discussed her possible space flight with Space
Adventures at the signing of the agreement. Ms. Ansari preferred not to
fly on a suborbital spacecraft, where weightlessness lasts only ten
minutes, but opted for the Soyuz whose the flight is eight-day-long.
The source said that Space Adventures abandoned its commission given
Ms. Ansari's big investment in the company's projects. Thus,
Anoushe Ansari will pay $20 million for her flight on the Soyuz to the
Russian party only.

by Konstantin Lantratov