First woman to space


SpaceX First Woman Space Tourist Mission To The ISS


Summary: In this article we take a look at the accomplishments of the first Woman to Tour Space as well as the mission details and experiments she performed for the 10-day duration of her stay on the ISS (International Space Station). On the morning of the 18th September, 2006, the Soyuz TMA-9 successfully launched and exited the Earth’s atmosphere, making it’s way up to the target orbit of 200km above the Earth before docking with the International Space Station. Onboard the crew consisted of Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, and Anousheh Ansari, the first woman space tourist. Iranian-born American businesswoman, Ansari, emigrated from Iran to the U.S. in 1984 as a teenager, where she’d later attend George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, to earn a bachelor’s degree in electronics and computer engineering, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University. In 1993 she cofounded a Company, Telecom Technologies, Inc. with her husband, Hamid Ansari, and her brother-in-law.

Ansari’s interest in space exploration was prevalent even before she started her training. In 2002 she made a multimillion-dollar contribution to a NGO (nonprofit organization), X Prize Foundation, that manages competitions to encourages innovative solutions and advances in technology to benefit humanity. The contribution was used by the NGO to launch the Ansari X Prize, a competition between privately owned companies to launch reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within the time period of two weeks. In 2004 the Ansari X Prize was won by Scaled Composites, a aerospace development company based in Mojave, California.

Ansari arranged to participate in a spaceflight program, and trained through the American space tourism company ‘Space Adventures’ to act as a backup for Daisuke Enomoto, a Japanese businessman and former livedoor executive. Unfortunately Enomoto was medically disqualified from flying the mission, elevating Ansari to prime crew, making her the fourth space tourist and the first woman space tourist. She was also the first Iranian, and first female Muslim in space. According to an article on wikipedia during an interview on Iranian national television for the astronomy show Night’s Sky a day before lift-off, she was asked what she hoped to accomplish on her mission.

“I hope to inspire everyone - especially young people, women, and young girls all over the world, and in Middle-eastern countries that do not provide women with the same opportunities as men - to not give up their dreams and to pursue them… It may seem impossible to them at times. But I believe they can realize their dreams if they keep it in their hearts, nurture it, and look for opportunities and to make those opportunities happen,” was her answer. On September 18th, 2006, under commander Mikhail Tyurin, the Soyuz TMA-9 lifted off into space before docking with the ISS on September 20th, 2006, where Ansari would spend nine days performing a series of four experiments concerning human physiology for the ESA (European Space Agency). These experiments included the following:

• A study on the mechanisms behind anemia

• The influence changes in various muscle groups have on lower back pain.

• What consequences may result from space radiation on ISS crew and various species of microbes.

On September 29th, at 01:13 UTC, she landed back safely on the surface of the Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-8, 90 km north of Arkalyk at a place known as the steppes of Kazakhstan. Joining her back to Earth was U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams, and Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov. After landing they were transported via helicopter to Kustanai for the welcome ceremony. In 2010 Ansari participated as a speaker at the Honeywell Leadership Academy with Homer Hickam at United States Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. And on the 25th of April, 2013, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Utah Valley University. She has also received multiple Honors and Awards for entrepreneurial excellence, and Telecom Technologies, Inc. earned recognition as one of Inc. magazine’s 500 fastest-growing companies under her leadership. In 2015, Ansari was Awarded the Space pioneer Award by the National Space Society for her service and contribution to the Space Community.

Till this day she continues to promote and inspire the next generation of astronauts, empowering especially young women in the middle-eastern countries to persue their dreams with what she told Iranian national television during her interviews. No matter what circumstances may hinder your dreams right now, there will always be a way to get back on the path to realizing your dreams if one can but be open-minded enough to see the opportunities.