First private female spaceflight participant set to launch to the International Space Station

August 30, 2006 Thirty-nine year old Iranian-born entrepreneur and Ansari X-Prize title sponsor, Anousheh Ansari, has been officially named to the Soyuz TMA-9 primary crew and will become the first private female spaceflight participant. Following in the footsteps of the three previous Space Adventures private cosmonauts, Ansari will launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 14 en route to the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Expedition 14 crew members: NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin. Mrs. Ansari began her cosmonaut training earlier this year in preparation for a future orbital spaceflight with Space Adventures but with a Russian Medical Board deeming Japanese businessman Daisuke Dice-K Enemoto unfit for space flight, Ansari will become the first private female astronaut, two days after her fortieth birthday and achieve an ambition she has harboured since childhood. In her quest to fly in space, Ansari kickstarted the private spaceflight industry by creating the US$10m X-Prize competition, which was awarded in 2004 to Bert Rutan. “By reaching this dream I’ve had since childhood, I hope to tangibly demonstrate to young people all over the world that there is no limit to what they can accomplish,” said Anousheh Ansari, chairman and co-founder of Prodea Systems. Prodeo is Ansari’s latest venture, focussing on digital home technology. Go Girl !!!! Excellent image library.

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