First Female Private Space Explorer & Space Ambassador Anousheh Ansari, has been officially part of to the Soyuz TMA-9 primary crew. The first female spaceflight participant launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 18, 2006 and is now aboard the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Expedition 14 crew members: NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin.
..By reaching this dream I’ve had since childhood, I hope to tangibly demonstrate to young people all over the world that there is no limit to what they can accomplish, said Anousheh Ansari, chairman and co-founder of Prodea Systems, Inc.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Nelson Mandela
Dear Space Cadets,
Anousheh Ansari is really something. She has written a piece Time-Life would kill for while still up in space!
Go here to be inspired: http://www.anoushehansari.com/ Worth visiting if only for the YouTube video links to be found therein, but I love the poetry myself.
If you’ve got any interest in space travel at all, it’s worth the time to read it.
BTW, it took them 2 days(!) to reach the station, and 3.5 hours to return to earth.
An absolute inspiration for us earthlings!
See you on the moon!
Cheers,
Karen