First Female Space Tourist Now Orbiting the Earth

An Iranian-American telecommunications entrepreneur took off last week on a Russian rocket bound for the international space station, achieving her dream of becoming the world´s first paying female space tourist.

Anousheh Ansari was accompanied by a U.S.-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 $20 million to become the fourth private astronaut to take a trip on a Russian spacecraft and visit the station.

On board with Ansari are Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and U.S. astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who were to join German astronaut Thomas Reiter on the station just over 48 hours after liftoff.

Ansari, 40, is due to return to Earth on September 29, along with cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and astronaut Jeffrey Williams, who have been on the station since April.