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Anousheh Ansari Blogs From Space

Posted by Zonk on Sat Sep 23, 2006 02:45 AM
from the where-no-blogger-has-gone-before dept.
Space Communications The Internet NASA
gevmage writes "Anousheh Ansari, founder of the X Prize and the fourth 'space tourist' to the International Space Station is going to be writing a blog during her several day visit, which began this last Wednesday. She says in the current entry that her submissions are batched and she doesn't have a live browser to read comments." From the post: "The next morning when I woke up, I was so excited I slipped out of my bag quickly and flew head down to the Descent Module and flipped around and flew right back up to the Habitation Compartment. As soon as I stopped I realized that what I did was not a good idea! I felt my internal organs doing a cha-cha inside my belly ... I stopped and tried to minimize my movements. I basically become a mummy from that point forward. I only did very small slow movements and even that would make me feel really sick ..."
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[+] X-Prize Funder Will Be First Female Tourist In Space 95 comments
An anonymous reader writes "Reuters has the news that Anousheh Ansari, the funder of the X Prize, has been named as the first female tourist in space. She'll be going up in mid-September after a Japanese entrepeneur was deemed unfit for the trip." From the article: "Ansari, a 39-year-old chairwoman and co-founder of Prodea Systems, Inc., a digital home technology company, will be the world's fourth space tourist. 'Anousheh Ansari has been officially named to the Soyuz TMA-9 primary crew,' Space Adventures, working in partnership with Russia's space agency Roskosmos to launch space tourists, said in a statement."
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  • She is so hot (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 23 2006, @02:47AM (#16165647)
    Seriously, she is hot and likes space. :D :D

  • Zero gravity is easy, just remember... (Score:4, Funny)

    by ResidntGeek (772730) on Saturday September 23 2006, @02:54AM (#16165669) Journal
    ...the enemy's gate is down.
    • Gravity at the ISS is about nine tenths of that on Earth surface. Yet, ISS is on orbit, what causes the conditions of weightlessness on board. Try to jump to get on an Earth orbit for a while -- you feel weightlessness during that, but you are still in the gravity field of g = 9.81 m/s2.

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Correct. The ISS actually succeeds in knowing how to fly in the Douglass Adams sense because it continously throws itself at the Earth, but misses.

        It amazes me sometimes that many people actually think there is no gravitational force in space. A 6371 km radius Earth, and somehow a mere 400 km more and gravity ceases? Obviously it does not compute.
        • I think we can safely say "zero g" when the person is perceptually experiencing no or extremely low gravity. Obviously gravity doesn't cease working outside the atmosphere, but common, saying "perceived weightlessness" or something would get pretty lame.
    • That's an "Ender's Game" reference, for the curious.
  • She has clearly not read a lot of Heinlein before the trip. Tut, tut.

    • She has clearly not read a lot of Heinlein

      Were you thinking: Farmer in the Sky?

      I am sorry she is having such a hard time. It would be a shame if she blows $20M and is sick the whole time.

  • Title is Wrong (Score:5, Funny)

    by otherniceman (180671) on Saturday September 23 2006, @03:15AM (#16165713)
    Shouldn't that be Bloogggggs in Spaaaaaaaaaaaaace?

  • I basically become a mummy from that point forward. I only did very small slow movements and even that would make me feel really sick ..."

    I bet it'd be neat in space, but it should be mandatory training to get a acclimated to the perils of being in space. Surely if you can afford to be a space tourist you can afford to get some lessons. They don't send scuba divers in the ocean without training.

    It would be a really neat experience to see the stars without the obstruction of atmosphere.

    • Re:Training (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MichaelSmith (789609) on Saturday September 23 2006, @03:30AM (#16165769) Homepage Journal
      They don't send scuba divers in the ocean without training.

      Yes but no amount of training will save them from sea sickness on the way out. Exposure does that. She should be ok on her third or fourth flight.

      • At $20 million a flight, I doubt she'll have the opportunity to get acclimated to that sort of thing.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by FleaPlus (6935) *
      Actually, she (like all other cosmonauts) went through several months of training in Russia [xprize.org] before the launch.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by hdw (564237)
        If you've read other cosmo/astronauts reports you should be aware that many of them get motion/space sick during the early phases of their ride or stay on the station.

        It's not something special with the PSE/Tourists/Cargo, it happens to the pros too.

        // hdw

  • Further Investigation Shows (Score:4, Funny)

    by pipingguy (566974) * on Saturday September 23 2006, @03:31AM (#16165773) Homepage
    Looking at her website, this woman apparently engages in adventurous stuff like guns and pyrotechnics. Since the site's photos are Flash, I had to screencap this one where she seems to enjoy setting people's heads on fire [canadacomments.com].

    Sure, space tourism for civilians is good and all but do we really want a pyromaniac up there?
    • An Iranian woman interested in guns and pyrotechnics...

      I thought muslims were strictly forbidden to do that in America.

      Maybe now theres a sleeper cell in the ISS.
  • Does this immediate sickness after some movement rule out the development of zero-g sports being developed?
    If it does, this sucks big time..

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by MichaelSmith (789609)
      Does this immediate sickness after some movement rule out the development of zero-g sports being developed? If it does, this sucks big time..

      I personally find sea kayaking to be a pretty nausiating sport but I keep going back to it.

  • She already made significant scientific progress (Score:4, Funny)

    by quigonn (80360) on Saturday September 23 2006, @03:37AM (#16165793) Homepage
    She experimentally proved that the iPod works in zero gravity. Now that's an achievement.
    • How does she get power after she drainded the accus?

      Did she take an ISS compatible charger or solar sails to re-charge it. Or is it one of those new, experimental "iHamster perpetual motion" devices that can work on any available grain?
  • Welcome to the blogosphere without atmosphere.

  • Going to be? Current entry? (Score:5, Funny)

    by MarkByers (770551) on Saturday September 23 2006, @04:06AM (#16165879) Homepage Journal
    is going to be writing a blog during her several day visit, which began this last Wednesday. She says in the current entry

    I never got my head around that time dilation effect.
  • ...my first thought was "hmmm zero g sweeet love makin`". Any mentions of that?

  • Not to nitpick... (Score:3, Informative)

    by tgd (2822) on Saturday September 23 2006, @06:02AM (#16166165)
    Not to nitpick or lessen her contribution to the X-prize, but she was NOT a founder, she was the person who coughed up the money fairly close to the end to actually pay for the prize. I don't believe she had anything to do with founding it.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by FleaPlus (6935) *
      Correct, Anousheh was the main funder, not the founder. The founder is Peter Diamandis, who is the other main poster on the linked blog.

  • Yes, but will she SPEAK on Ham Radio up there? (Score:4, Informative)

    by ivi (126837) on Saturday September 23 2006, @06:07AM (#16166181)
    The Astronauts are almost all Radio Amateurs and there's both voice &
    data Amateur Radio equipment to toy with up there (& lots of classes
    of school kids happy to speak with a Space Traveller.

    For a real buzz (ie, after viewing Earth from Space & all the Science
    experiments has been done), this Space Tourist should really try to
    make a connection or three with some Muslim schools; I think it would
    even be a first (as most of the schools that are selected from the
    queue are from USA, I understand).

    If anyone can get the suggestion up there to her, maybe she'll be kind
    enough to give such schools (or any schools or other Hams she might
    find on-the-air, for that matter) a Big Thrill, as well as a model of
    what's possible - these days - for a woman of means to do.

    Oh, for those who'd like to listen to on-air chats with the ISS, the
    place to go for dates/times, frequencies & pass predictions is:

        http://heavens-above.com/ [heavens-above.com]

    Eg, select your location - eg, someplace in United Arab Emerates - & go
    - from the selection page to a page like this one:

        http://heavens-above.com/PassSummary.asp?lat=25.70 8&lng=55.797&alt=21&loc=Al+Hamra'&TZ=UAEST&satid=2 5544 [heavens-above.com]

    It's also possible to display info for LOTS of Amateur Radio equipped
    satellites which are likely 'visible' from your location, eg, here:

        http://heavens-above.com/amateursats.asp?lat=25.70 8&lng=55.797&alt=21&loc=Al+Hamra'&TZ=UAEST [heavens-above.com]

    (Not knowing any place names in the UAR, I just picked one from the list that came up,
    in response to my entering "*" for Town/City, to get each of the following URLs.)

    Enjoy & let us know what you hear!
    • this Space Tourist should really try to
      make a connection or three with some Muslim schools; I think it would
      even be a first (as most of the schools that are selected from the
      queue are from USA, I understand).

      There are Muslim schools in the USA. There are Christian schools in Iran. They are religions, not countries or races.

      KFG
        • Yeah, and only one religion rules: yours. Everyone else is converted or killed.

          The fact that there have been people who have used my spiritual beliefs as a justification for warfare is a great sorrow to me.

          One of the fundamental precepts of my religion is to "harm no sentient being." One of the other fundamental precepts is that you are responsible for your actions.

          KFG
            • I wish certain other people of faith or ideology would think the same.

              So do I, but that would require that I . . .prosilitize.

              KFG
  • I know satellites are directional, but there are several satellites up that provide terrestial internet, could one not be adapted to provide internet access for the space station, so that astronauts could blog/e-mail in real time, etc.
    • Antennas are pretty easy to set up. I gather the real problem is that you have to worry about interference with the other electrical equipment up there. 802.11b or 802.11g, for example, is about good enough though you'd have to acquire a new ground wireless hub every few minutes as you orbit around the Earth.
    • I'm pretty sure the space station is specifically shielded to keep OUT radiation, communication or otherwise. It seems to me you would probably need a receiver on the outside of the station for any sort of decent connection, not to mention all of the electrical equipment on-board that might interfere. The thought crossed my mind for a couple seconds too though.
  • One thing I found amusing about her blog. She describes space as smelling sorta like a "burnt almond cookie" or "cooking" after they docked with the ISS. I never knew that space "smelled" like anything. I wonder if there is a silly technobable answer as to why this is. Maybe this is just the little kid in me but that is so cool.
    • She was referring to the air onboard the station -- I rather doubt she's spending any time outside the station without a spacesuit.
    • They did have that one accident recently where they had to clean out the air. That might be whats left over from that accident.
    • Actually I believe this was before the air from the ISS got into the airlock. I think the idea is that some of the "local" atmosphere is trapped between the Soyuz and ISS doors and "flavours" the air when the doors open.

      Whether it happens or not, I don't know. I'd certainly like to be in a position to determine that for myself 8-)

    • Burnt food seems to be a popular description of the odor she's talking about. Here's a bit from Bill Shepherd's ISS Expedition 2 log for November 19, 2000. The Sergei he's referring to here is cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev:

      Sergei led the way into the top of the Progress. Sergei said the nose of the docking probe "smells like space". It did have kind of a burnt toast odor to it--very faint.

      More of the same log, with some editing, can be found here. [nasa.gov]

  • I just asked on her blog site if she can figure out how to dance in zero g - shes got the tunes with the ipod but can you groove in space? This is of exceptional research importance, because no one is going to want to go into space if you cant party - and to me it seems that dancing is an essential party of partying.

    What else should a tourist be doing in space to check it out for the rest of us earthbound folks?
    (And before all you hormone laden slashdotters ask the obvious - remember Anousheh is married and
    • Since when is menstruation unnatural?

      Also, in general <a href = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_of_Nine">I</a> <a href = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_Six_%28Battle star_Galactica%29">must</a> <a href = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%27pol">disagree</a > <a href = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deanna_Troi">with</a > <a href = "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Carter">you </a>.

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