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She was also the first female Muslim astronaut of Iranian descent in space, as well as the first person to ever keep a blog while on her space exploration.
Ansari immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1984. She earned her bachelor's degree at George Mason University and her master's from George Washington University. Ansari is the CEO of Prodea Systems, a consumer technology company headquartered in Plano, Texas, and before founding Prodea, she was a co-founder and CEO for Telecom Technologies, Inc.
Q: What made you decide that you wanted to go into space, and how exactly were you able to accomplish this?
A: It was a dream I have had since I was very young. I was a child in Iran dreaming about going to space, coming to the U.S. and being an astronaut. Coming here, life took a different turn and instead I became an engineer and made a career in telecommunications for myself and built a successful enterprise. This endeavor paid off and helped me accomplish my dream in a roundabout way. Finally, when we sold our company I had an opportunity to go after what I was really passionate about, and that was going to space. I was then able to fly to space through the Russian space program.
Q: How did being the first female private space explorer affect your space exploration goal?
A: I wasn't after making a record or accomplishing this because I wanted to be the first anything. I was doing it because it was something that I felt passionate about and that I had wanted to do since I was a child. I felt that I could bring a lot of attention and focus to space because all my life I have thought that space studies and space exploration is very important.
Q: Did you face any hardships being a Muslim woman going into space?
A: Nothing specific because I was a Muslim woman, but rather overall being a woman. I faced difficulties because when I arrived in Moscow and I went to Star City to start my training program, people there were not used to having a woman in the program. There were only three women who had trained there before, and they trained through the early years of the space program, so for a long time they only had men training there. Having a woman was a big adjustment for all of them and they were not so welcoming at the beginning. All throughout my life I learned that I just do what I think is right and go after what I want and just do my best and usually the people change their minds. They saw my passion and how excited I was, and my excitement finally transferred to them and they were excited for me. I felt welcome after about the first month and a half.
Q: How many times have you gone into space and where exactly did you go?
A: I flew only once, on September 18, 2006. I spent 11 days in space and I went through the Russian space program. I went to the International Space Station and spent nine days on board the space station.
Q: Are you going to go into space again?
A: I would love to. I loved being in space and I felt at home. If I get another
opportunity to do it, I will.
Q: You said in a previous interview that you wish the world leaders could go
into space to get the perspective that we are all members of this planet. Why
do you think this?
A: I believe if they see the world from space, they will become different and better leaders. If you can have that image with you when you are making decisions, it would be great. I really wish the candidates for the 2008 election could go to space and see it for themselves. I bet they would have different policies when they return.
Q: How were you feeling at the final countdown?
A: I thought I was dreaming. I couldn't believe that it was really happening. I was sitting there and I was in my suit and the countdown started. I thought, 'am I going to just wake up and this will all be over?' It was very, very exciting and it's hard to describe the feeling. I had all these images in my head of what I had done to get to this point, and of course I was thinking about my loved ones and everyone who had helped me get there, and it was just a feeling of pure joy and excitement.
Q: You have already accomplished so much; what else do you wish to accomplish in the future?
A: There are two passions I am pursuing right now. One is education. I believe that we need a lot of focus on changing the way we educate our young all over the world. Specifically, I want to encourage people to look at how they can help flourish the imagination in our children and let them carry that imagination with them through adulthood. As the children go through the school system now, we slowly mange to suck that imagination out of them. I think in order for us to succeed and be able to build the next generation of technology, we need a lot of imagination and to think outside the box and come up with radical solutions. If children are not able to think this way, then we are not going to have the right sources. My other passion is that after going to space and seeing that there are really no borders separating us, I want to convey the message that we are all just citizens of planet Earth and we should look at it that way. We should not try to draw lines and separate ourselves and think that that will not affect us because it does. You can see that from space. We are all citizens of this planet.
Anousheh Ansari's visit was sponsored by the Iranian Society at Virginia Tech, the College of Engineering, College of Science, Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety, and the departments of mechanical, aerospace, ocean, and biological systems engineering.
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