Like many people, you may have dreamed of visiting the moon, doing a space walk, or just having fun with the weightlessness astronauts experience once they leave Earth's atmosphere. Unheard of just a few years ago, space tourism is a new industry catering to such dreams.
The high cost of civilian space travel, however, means that only a handful of people will sign up for the adventure.
In September 2006, Anousheh Ansari became one of the privileged few, paying an estimated $20 million for ten days in space. The experience, made possible through the collaboration of the Russian Federal Space Agency with the US-based Space Adventures (the only company to have successfully launched private explorers into space), included a ride aboard a Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft and eight days at the International Space Station (ISS). Accompanied by NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Ansari was the fourth person ever to participate in the Space Adventures program since it began sending civilians to space in 2001.
Ansari (whose first name Anousheh means "happy" or "fortunate" in her native Farsi) was the first female client of Space Adventures as well as the first American of Iranian descent to visit space. She was also the first Muslim woman to make such a trip.
The high cost of civilian space travel, however, means that only a handful of people will sign up for the adventure.
In September 2006, Anousheh Ansari became one of the privileged few, paying an estimated $20 million for ten days in space. The experience, made possible through the collaboration of the Russian Federal Space Agency with the US-based Space Adventures (the only company to have successfully launched private explorers into space), included a ride aboard a Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft and eight days at the International Space Station (ISS). Accompanied by NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Ansari was the fourth person ever to participate in the Space Adventures program since it began sending civilians to space in 2001.
Ansari (whose first name Anousheh means "happy" or "fortunate" in her native Farsi) was the first female client of Space Adventures as well as the first American of Iranian descent to visit space. She was also the first Muslim woman to make such a trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment