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Anousheh Ansari .
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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.
As smoke billowed below the rocket, her relatives gasped and her motherclasped her handsin front of her chest.
Ansari's husband, Hamid Ansari, watched the liftoff stoically, but her sister's face was streaked with tears and her aunt jumped up and down, shrieking and pumping her arms in the air.
NASA flight director Robert Dempsey said Ansari's presence was a plus to the mission. As for the propriety of sending tourists into space, he said: "My personal feeling is I wish it could be me."
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.
Ansari said she viewed herself as an ambassador for attracting private investment to space flight.
"In order to make great leaps in space exploration ... private companies and the government need to work together," she said at a news conference at the cosmodrome in Baikonur.
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周一，一位美籍伊朗裔通信业女企业家乘坐俄制火箭飞赴国际空间站，实现了她成为世界上首位付费太空女游客的梦想。
这位名叫阿诺谢赫·安萨里的女子在两位美俄宇航员的陪同下，搭乘"联盟TMA 9号"飞船在位于哈萨克斯坦境内的俄罗斯发射基地升空，10分钟后，飞船进入预定轨道。
据悉，安萨里为此次太空行花了2000万美元，并成为史上第四位乘坐俄制飞船遨游空间站的太空游客。
周一，安萨里登上火箭时兴奋的说："我太开心了。"她的很多亲戚朋友前来为她送行。
当火箭底部冒出滚滚浓烟即将升空时，安萨里的亲戚们都屏住了呼吸，她的妈妈双手紧握胸前。
安萨里的丈夫哈米德·安萨里显得比较平静，而安萨里的妹妹已是泪流满面，她的阿姨则不停的上下跳着，尖叫着，挥动着双手。
美国国家航空和宇航局局长罗伯特·戴普西说，安萨为太空行增添了色彩。在谈及太空游是否合适时，他说："我个人的感觉是，我真希望去太空的人是我。"
在"联盟TMA 9号"飞船发射升空不到一天前，美国"阿特兰蒂斯"号航天飞机已与轨道空间站脱离，开始向地球飞行。
与安萨里同行的是俄罗斯宇航员米凯尔·秋林和美国宇航员迈克尔·洛佩兹-阿里格利亚，他们将在48个多小时后和已在空间站的德国宇航员托马斯·里特会合。
40岁的安萨里将于9月29日和宇航员帕维尔·维诺格拉多夫及杰夫里·威廉姆斯一起返回地球，这两位宇航员从今年4月份起就进入了空间站。
安萨里说，她把自己看作是吸引太空私人投资的大使。
在拜科努尔发射基地召开的新闻发布会上，她说："要在太空探索方面取得重大进步，私营企业和政府需要齐心协力。"
(英语点津姗姗编辑)
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