Space station tourist

By admin on September 18th, 2006

Anousheh Ansari A Russian Soyuz vehicle ferrying two new station crew members and the first female space tourist was set to launch overnight, followed by the departure of a Russian cargo ship from the station on Monday. The Soyuz was scheduled to arrive at the space station early Wednesday, and Atlantis was set to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida later that day.

Russian Soyuz rocket carrying cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin, Lopez-Alegria and the world’s first female space tourist - Anousheh Ansari - is expected to blast off from the middle of the Kazakh steppe. She will return to Earth on Sept. 28 along with two of the station’s current inhabitants

Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur, is accompanied by a U.S.-Russian crew. Mark Shuttleworth a software magnae and the “Ubuntu” founder was also known as one of the first man who set to orbit. Both paid at least $20 Million dollars for the special space trip.

Meanwhile Space Shuttle Atlantis is heading back to Earth. Atlantis pilot Chris Ferguson carefully eased Atlantis through a tight corridor away from the station. About 450 feet away, he fired jets to maneuver Atlantis around the space lab so the crew could take photos of the crew’s handiwork - a newly expanded station. The space station gleamed in the reflection of the sun.