Editing Anousheh Ansari (section)

== Space ==
Ansari has expressed that she does not consider herself a "space tourist" and prefers the title of "[[spaceflight participant]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMD58BE8YE_index_0.html|title=Space for Business Newsletter article from February 2007: "I am NOT a tourist"}} February 2007</ref>

Ansari is a member of the [[X PRIZE Foundation]]'s Vision Circle, as well as its Board of Trustees.<ref name="X Prize Foundation Board">{{cite web | title= Board of Trustees | url= http://www.xprizefoundation.com/about_us/board.asp | publisher= [[X PRIZE Foundation]] | access-date=2006-09-11| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060910180940/http://www.xprizefoundation.com/about_us/board.asp| archive-date= 10 September 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> Along with her brother-in-law, [[Amir Ansari]], she made a multimillion-dollar contribution to the X PRIZE foundation on May 5, 2004, the 43rd anniversary of [[Alan Shepard]]'s sub-orbital spaceflight. The X PRIZE has officially renamed the ''Ansari X PRIZE'' to honor their donation. As demonstrated by her commitment to the X PRIZE and through presentations at Space Enthusiast conferences, Ansari is a spokesperson for the "privatization of space," a process enabling commercially viable companies to government-independently send equipment and people into space for exploration and other purposes.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Saab|first=Bechara|title=Planet Earth, Space Debris|journal=Hypothesis|date=September 2009|volume=7|issue=1|pages=e1|s2cid=128979357|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e729/60005481fad77656e182e4fee9425bb8aef6.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227214505/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e729/60005481fad77656e182e4fee9425bb8aef6.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-02-27}}</ref>

The Ansari family also invested in a partnership with [[Space Adventures|Space Adventures, Ltd.]] and the [[Russian Federal Space Agency|Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation]] (FSA) to create a fleet of suborbital spaceflight vehicles (the [[Space Adventures Explorer]]) for global commercial use.<ref name="Space Tourism Pioneers, Space Adventures and the [[Ansari X PRIZE]] Title Sponsors, to Provide First Suborbital Spaceflight Tourism Vehicles">{{cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-16-2006/0004283899&EDATE=|title=Space Tourism Pioneers, Space Adventures, and the Ansari X PRIZE Title Sponsors to Provide First Suborbital Spaceflight Tourism Vehicles |work=[[PR Newswire]]|access-date=2006-08-27}}</ref>

=== Spaceflight ===

Ansari trained as a backup for [[Daisuke Enomoto]] for a [[Soyuz spacecraft|Soyuz]] flight to the International Space Station, through Space Adventures, Ltd.<ref name="Iranian Woman Blazes Trail Into Space">{{cite web |url=http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Iranian_Woman_Blazes_Trail_Into_Space_999.html |title=Iranian Woman Blazes Trail Into Space |work=[[Spacedaily.com]] |access-date=2006-08-27 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060808063618/http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Iranian_Woman_Blazes_Trail_Into_Space_999.html |archive-date=2006-08-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On August 21, 2006, Enomoto was medically disqualified from flying the [[Soyuz TMA-9]] mission that was due to launch the following month. The next day Ansari was elevated to the prime crew.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_advancer.html|title=NASA Expedition 14 Overview|access-date=2006-09-23|archive-date=2021-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510091909/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition14/exp14_advancer.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[Image:Anousheh Ansari in the ISS.jpg|thumb|Ansari holds a plant grown in the ''[[Zvezda (ISS module)|Zvezda]]'' Service Module of the International Space Station.]]

Asked what she hoped to achieve on her spaceflight, Ansari said, "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—not to 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 make those opportunities happen."<ref name="Space.com interview with Anousheh Ansari">{{cite web|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060915_ansari_qna.html|title=Interview with Anousheh Ansari, the First Female Space Tourist|website=[[Space.com]]|date=15 September 2006|access-date=2006-09-19| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060920022453/http://space.com/missionlaunches/060915_ansari_qna.html| archive-date= 20 September 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> The day before her departure, she was interviewed on Iran national television for the astronomy show ''Night's Sky''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iranian.com/Kasraie/2004/October/Ansari/index.html|title=Up, Up, and Away!}}</ref> The hosts wished her success and thanked her on behalf of the Iranians. Ansari in return thanked them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacescience.ir/eng-Anousheh_Ansari.htm |title=Full Coverage of Anousheh's journey to space |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927193654/http://www.spacescience.ir/eng-Anousheh_Ansari.htm |archive-date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>

Ansari lifted off on the [[Soyuz TMA-9]] mission with commander [[Mikhail Tyurin]] ([[Russian Federal Space Agency|RSA]]) and flight engineer [[Michael Lopez-Alegria]] ([[NASA]]) at 04:59 ([[UTC]]) on Monday, September 18, 2006, from [[Baikonur]], [[Kazakhstan]]. Ansari became the fourth (and first female) [[space tourism|space tourist]]. Her contract did not allow for disclosure of the amount paid, but previous space tourists have paid more than $20 million [[USD]]. The spacecraft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, September 20, 2006, at 05:21 (UTC).<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5355022.stm | title=Lift-off for woman space tourist | publisher=[[BBC News Online]] | date=2006-09-18 | access-date = 2006-09-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5362944.stm | title=Space tourist, new crew board ISS | publisher=BBC News Online | date=2006-09-20| access-date=2006-09-22}}</ref> Ansari landed safely aboard [[Soyuz TMA-8]] on September 29, 2006, at 01:13 UTC on the steppes of Kazakhstan (90 kilometers north of [[Arkalyk]]) with U.S. [[astronaut]] [[Jeffrey Williams (astronaut)|Jeffrey Williams]] and Russian [[cosmonaut]] [[Pavel Vinogradov]].<ref name="INTERVIEW: From space, a new view of an Iranian">{{cite news|title=INTERVIEW: From space, a new view of an Iranian |work=[[Yahoo]] |url=http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060916/3/2pzp7.html |access-date=2006-09-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109130949/http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060916/3/2pzp7.html |archive-date=2006-11-09 }}</ref> She was given red roses from an unidentified official, and a kiss from her husband, Hamid.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition13/exp13_undocking.html | title=Space Station Crew Back on Earth | publisher=[[NASA]] | date=2006-09-28 | access-date = 2006-09-30| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061003103933/http://www1.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition13/exp13_undocking.html| archive-date= 3 October 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5390902.stm | title=Space tourist in Earth touchdown | publisher=BBC News Online | date=2006-09-29 | access-date = 2006-09-30| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060929184831/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5390902.stm| archive-date= 29 September 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> The crew's rescuers moved them to [[Kustanai]] by helicopter for the welcome ceremony.<ref>{{cite news |title=American female space tourist returns | publisher=[[The Detroit News]] | date=2006-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0700world/tm_objectid=17841909&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=space-triumph-prompts-new-line-in-underwear-name_page.html | title=Space triumph prompts new line in underwear | publisher=[[Western Mail (Wales)|icWales, The Western Mail]] | date=2006-09-29 | access-date = 2006-09-30}}</ref>

During her nine-day<ref>{{cite web|title=Expedition 14 Press Kit|url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/157366main_ansari.pdf|website=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|publisher=NASA|access-date=16 October 2017}}</ref> stay on board the International Space Station, Ansari agreed to perform a series of experiments on behalf of the [[European Space Agency]]. She conducted four experiments,<ref name="IESA experiments with spaceflight participant Ansari to ISS">{{cite web|url=http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQRH7LURE_index_0.html|title=IESA experiments with spaceflight participant Ansari to ISS|access-date=2006-09-22| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20061106003343/http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQRH7LURE_index_0.html| archive-date= 6 November 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref> including:
* Researching the mechanisms behind [[anemia]].
* How changes in muscles influence lower back pain.
* Consequences of space radiation on ISS crew members and different species of microbes that have made a home for themselves on the space station.

She also became the first person to publish a [[weblog]] from space.

=== Iranian flag controversy ===

Ansari intended to wear the [[U.S. flag]] on her spacesuit alongside a politically neutral version of the [[Flag of Iran|Iranian flag]], i.e., the simple 3-color flag with no government-specific emblem, to honor the two countries that have contributed to her life.<ref name="Iranian flag in Space">{{cite news | first= West | last= Ender | url= http://www.persianstudents.org/archives/002273.html | title= Iranian flag in Space | publisher= Persian Students in the UK Weblog | date= 2006-08-28 | access-date= 2007-01-07 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070107153512/http://www.persianstudents.org/archives/002273.html | archive-date= 7 January 2007 | url-status= dead }}</ref> A few U.S.-based media wrongly speculated that she intended to wear the version of the Iranian flag that predated the [[Iranian Revolution|1979 Islamic revolution in Iran]].<ref name="U.S.: Iranian-born To Be First Female Civilian In Space" />

At the insistence of the [[NASA]] and Russian officials, she did not wear the Iranian flag officially but wore the Iranian flag colors instead and kept the Iranian flag on her official flight patch.<ref name="Local space tourist's Iran patch spurs dispute">{{cite news |first=Shelly |last=Slater |url=http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060914_mo_womanspace.d4fdda8.html |title=Local space tourist's Iran patch spurs dispute |publisher=[[WFAA]] (online) |date=2006-09-14 |access-date=2006-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017194432/http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060914_mo_womanspace.d4fdda8.html |archive-date=2006-10-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She and her husband said no political message was intended, despite the increasing tensions between the United States and Iran, which had dominated world headlines in the weeks leading up to her launch. She noted that she had "plans to devote her mission to expanding a global consciousness she expected would be seeded with her first look at Earth from space."

=== Reactions to Ansari's flight ===

==== Crewmates ====
[[Michael López-Alegría]], the Spanish-born NASA astronaut who flew on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft on the return flight with Ansari, expressed his doubts to reporters before the flight: "I'm not a big fan personally of having those guys go visit the space station because I think a space station is still a place that is under construction, and not quite operational. I don't think it's ideal."<ref name="First Female Space Tourist, Next ISS Crew Set to Launch">{{cite news |first= Ker | last = Than | url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/060916_exp14_prelaunch.html| title=First Female Space Tourist, Next ISS Crew Set to Launch | publisher=[[space.com]] | date =2006-09-16 | access-date =2006-09-18}}</ref>

López-Alegría later stated that he was skeptical of private tourists a few years ago but now believes it is essential to the survival of the Russian space program, which is important to the U.S. space program: "If that's the correct solution... then not only is it good from the standpoint of supporting the Russian space program, but it's good for us as well," he said. Ansari's presence in space "is a great dream and a great hope not just for our country but for countries all around the world."<ref name="First female space tourist blasts off">{{cite news | first= Mike| last= Eckel |title= First female space tourist blasts off| publisher=[[Yahoo News]] | date= 2006-09-18}}</ref>

The same [[Associated Press]] story also quoted [[Mikhail Tyurin]] describing Ansari as "very professional" and said he felt like they had worked together for a decade. López would eventually change his stance on tourism at the ISS and joined Axiom space, eventually commanding their first tourist mission.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.axiomspace.com/ax1 | title=Meet Ax-1, the Beginning of a New Era }}</ref>

==== Reactions in Iran ====
[[Image:Soyuz TMA-9 crew w ansari.jpg|thumb|The Crew of Soyuz TMA-9: Astronaut Michael E. Lopez-Alegria (left), Anousheh Ansari (middle) and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Baikonur, Kazakhstan on Sept. 5, 2006]]
The flight was given significant coverage by [[Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting|Iranian state television]], with an hour-long live interview with Ansari being broadcast on the show ''Asemane Shab'' ("Night Sky"). Ansari was praised by newspapers such as ''Hambastegi'' and ''Jam-e-Jam Daily'', which published daily columns detailing the journey. The [[astronomy]] magazine ''NOJUM'' also published an exclusive interview of Pouria Nazemi with Ansari before her trip, in which she discussed her vision for [[Private spaceflight|commercial spaceflight]]. ''NOJUM'' also organized and held gatherings when the [[ISS]] passed over Iran's cities. Shahram Yazdanpanah made a special part about Anousheh's trip to space at the Persian "Space Science" website and covered all the trip news.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.spacescience.ir/Anousheh_Ansari.htm |title=Anousheh Ansari – انوشه انصاري |access-date=2008-05-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602002440/http://www.spacescience.ir/anousheh_ansari.htm |archive-date=2008-06-02 }}</ref>

=== Interviews ===
<!-- Unsourced image removed: [[Image:AnoushehAnsari photo.JPG|right|thumb|Anousheh Ansari in an interview from space]] -->
On September 22, 2006, she told reporters she had no regrets and said, "I am having a wonderful time here. It's been more than I expected, and I enjoy every second of it. The entire experience has been wonderful up here."<ref name="savoring 'every single second'">{{cite news |title=First female space tourist savoring 'every single second' in orbit | publisher=AP | date=2006-09-22}}</ref>