Female space tourist blasts off
Baikonur, Kazakhstan - An Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur took off Monday on a Russian rocket bound for the international space station, achieving her dream of becoming the the world's first paying female space tourist.
Anousheh Ansari was accompanied by a US-Russian crew on the Soyuz TMA-9 capsule, which entered orbit about 10 minutes after liftoff from the Russian cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Ansari reportedly paid US$20 million to become the fourth private astronaut to take a trip on a Russian spacecraft and visit the station.
"I'm just so happy to be here," she said ebulliently as she entered the rocket Monday, watched by about a dozen relatives.
The Soyuz TMA-9 capsule took off less than a day after the US space shuttle Atlantis pulled away from the orbiting station and began its journey Earthward.
On board with Ansari were Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and US astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who were to join German astronaut Thomas Reiter on the station just over 48 hours after liftoff.
Ansari, 40, was due to return to Earth on Sept. 29, along with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and astronaut Jeffrey Williams, who have been on the station since April.
On Sunday, Ansari defended the role of "space flight participants" and said she viewed herself as an ambassador for attracting private investment to space flight.
Ansari said she expected seeing Earth from space would alter her view of the planet.
"You'll see how small and how fragile the Earth is compared to the rest of the universe," she said. "It will give us a better sense of responsibility."
Earlier she said she was eager to see Iran from space, she hasn't been back since emigrating to the United States, and hopes to inspire girls in her homeland to study science.
Ansari and her family left Iran a few years after the Islamic revolution, in part because the opportunities for a young girl to study science were becoming limited there.
Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria are to join Reiter as the construction at the space station is picking up pace. On the agenda for the four days following the departure of the Atlantis: The station's current crew will shift a Progress supply ship to a different docking port to make way for the Soyuz; Atlantis will land back on Earth; and the Soyuz will dock at the station.
During the six-month tenure of Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria, four space walks are planned, with as many as three to be conducted in January to help set up the station's permanent cooling system. Another will take place earlier to retrieve and install experiments on the station's exterior.
词汇：
entrepreneur：n. 企业家, 主办人
bound for：驶往
capsule：n. 太空舱
cosmodrome：n. 人造卫星发射基地
ambassador：n. 大使
emigrate: vi.永久(使)移居
inspire:vt. 鼓舞, 激发
agenda: n. 议程
相关链接：
新浪科技讯 北京时间12点08分40秒，俄罗斯“联盟”号飞船发射升空，美国女企业家安萨里搭载飞船前往国际空间站，她将成为世界上首位太空女游客。
今年39岁的阿努谢赫-安萨里是伊朗裔的美国人，她是一家电信技术公司的创始人，也是个拥有数亿资产的女强人。安萨里的这趟行程价值2000万美元，她将飞赴国际空间站，并在那里度过10天的时光。
安萨里在16岁前一直住在伊朗。对于此次飞行，引起关注的另外一个因素是目前美国和伊朗的紧张关系。对此，安萨里说她不想介入美国和伊朗的政治紧张局面中。不过，她还是将一面伊朗国旗带到国际空间站，但在国际空间站进行电视直播时，她不会像从前一样把那面伊朗国旗披在太空服上。
另外，欧洲航天局还安排了安萨里成为四项重要实验的测试对象：太空辐射对人体的反应----第2号染色体的实验；研究国际空间站的细菌----采样实验；背痛来自哪里----下背痛实验；贫血是怎样造成的----新细胞溶解实验。
安萨里此次是搭载联盟号飞船国际空间站第14长期考察组前往太空的，第14长期考察组接替今年3月底进入太空、已在国际空间站值守了半年时间的第13长期考察组两名成员。
美国东部时间17日8时50分，对接在空间站上的美国“阿特兰蒂斯”号航天飞机与空间站脱离，开始独自飞行，给“联盟”飞船让出了对接舱位。此前因为阿特兰蒂斯号航天飞机几度推迟，导致联盟号飞船也推迟升空。
联盟号在发射升空后，将于美国东部时间9月20日凌晨1时28分(北京时间13点28分)同国际空间站对接。