Capsule, space tourist return to Earth (First Iranian-born American Female Astronaut back on Earth)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 9/28/06 | AP

[NormsRevenge]

ARKALYK, Kazakhstan - The capsule carrying the world's first female space tourist touched down Friday on the Kazakh steppe after a bone-jarring journey from the international space station.

Anousheh Ansari, Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams had left the station aboard a cramped Russian Soyuz capsule about three hours earlier. After the capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere, search and rescue teams in three planes and 12 helicopters tracked the trajectory and scrambled to help the crew out of the craft.

Officials monitoring the landing from Russia's Mission Control outside Moscow applauded after confirming that the capsule had landed in the target zone near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. The crew felt well, Mission Control said.

Ansari, an Iran-born American telecommunications entrepreneur, was a last-minute choice for the mission, which blasted off from the Russian manned space launch complex in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on Sept. 18. Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto was scheduled to be on the launch, but he was scrubbed from the trip in late August for unspecified medical reasons.

The 40-year-old Ansari was the fourth person, and the first woman, to pay a reported $20 million for a trip to the international space station. Briton Helen Sharman in 1991 took a trip to Russia's Mir station that she won through a contest.

[NormsRevenge]

From left, U.S. entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari, Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and U.S. astronaut Jeffrey Williams sit in chairs shortly after landing near the town of Arkalyk, northern Kazakhstan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2006. Soyuz capsule, carrying them successfully landed in Kazakh steppe. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

[NormsRevenge]

Space tourist Anousheh Ansari and her husband Hamid meet near the Souyz capsule after landing in northern Kazakhstan September 29, 2006. A Russian Soyuz capsule with Iranian-born space tourist Ansari on board bumped down safely in the Kazakh steppe at dawn on Friday. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (KAZAKHSTAN)

[headstamp]

I love those Russian officer hats. They look like they would take off in a strong wind like a frisbee. LOL

[NormsRevenge]

The furlined sleeping bags are pretty snazzy too,, sable and beaver, I think. ;-)

[McGavin999]

Good for her! I hope the Iranian people get to hear about this. An Iranian comes to America and becomes rich enough to pay 20 million to go out into space. That woman's life is what dreams are made of, I hope she inspires some dreams in Iran.

[NormsRevenge]

It was a nice touch having HUbby there with a bunch of red roses .. I also hope this news does get to the Iranian people ...

[diogenes ghost]

Yup! And note the US flag on her spacesuit!

[Unmarked Package]

"It was a nice touch having HUbby there with a bunch of red roses."

Not to be a killjoy, but the roses may have been the idea of the Russians. From recorded video I saw, the recovery crew handed her the bouquet the moment she sat down in the chair. Hubby arrived on the scene much later. But, what do I know. Maybe her husband ordered them and FTD delivers on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

I got a chuckle watching U.S. Astronaut Jeff Williams sit calmly in his chair like he was lounging in his back yard, implacable and munching on an apple, while all the personnel buzzed about him like bees. An Army man never turns down good grub. I've heard that a piece of fresh fruit is a real treat for the astronauts rarely available while in orbit.

[Names Ash Housewares]

Times sure change, an Iranian woman wearing an American flag returning from an international space station on board a Russian capsule.

Imagine trying to convince someone during the heigth of the space race that something like that would happen someday.