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(U-WIRE) AMES, Iowa -- The first female space tourist returned from the International Space Station on Sept. 29, completing an 11-day journey that also made her the first female Muslim and first Iranian in space.
Anousheh Ansari, a 40-year-old Iranian-born American businesswoman, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 18.
Although her contract forbade the disclosure of the full cost paid by Ansari, three previous space tourists have paid in excess of $20 million for their sojourns into orbit.
After spending her days at the space station conducting experiments and blogging for family, friends and fans back on Earth, Ansari and two fellow astronauts returned to Earth in the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule and landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan.
Sara Blatz, Iowa State University senior in aerospace engineering, weighed in on Ansari's recent journey. Blatz deemed Ansari's accomplishments "remarkable," but encouraged women interested in science to look elsewhere for a role model.
"Ansari was not selected among an elite group of peers -- she just had enough money to be able to pay for a seat in a Soyuz," Blatz said. "She was in charge of a few experiments through a contract with the European Space Agency, but she basically had no other [responsibilities] at the ISS than to enjoy herself for 10 days. I think the women space pioneers like Sally Ride and Eileen Collins, the first woman shuttle commander, are the role models for women and achieving your dreams."
Ansari's business ventures, as well as her journey, have sparked recent discussion of the viability of space tourism. Ansari and her family members are sponsors of the X Prize, a multimillion dollar award given to researchers and entrepreneurs who accomplish specific engineering goals designed to further industry as well as humanity.
The first X Prize winner, Burt Rutan, won $10 million in 2004 for designing SpaceShipOne, a spacecraft capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers above the earth's surface twice within two weeks.
Blatz is optimistic about the future of space tourism, calling it "inevitable."
"With NASA's new vision for space and returning to the moon within the next 15 years, a lot of help will be needed from private industries and I'm sure those industries will be sending tourist/civilians up too," Blatz said. "I think it is completely possible for space tourism to take hold within our lifetime. Just like the new frontier of the Americas became inhabited, some day space will be inhabited with humans too -- whether it's on vacation or permanent I guess will be up to us to decide."
Jay Staker, associate director of education for the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, said more public exposure to space travel, such as the attention generated by Ansari's mission, is always helpful for promoting advancement.
"The government, through NASA, blazes a trail, then private industry does what it does best and tries to make it into a viable venture," Staker said. "The downside is that it's no longer just about exploration and science, but also about self-indulgence and tourism."
(C) 2006 Iowa State Daily via U-WIRE
