Woman of the Week – Anouseh Ansari

Anouseh Ansari is the first woman to fund her own trip to outer space.

She was born in Mashhad, Iran and her family moved to Tehran shortly after she was born. In 1984 she emigrated to the United States to pursue an education. She earned her Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering at George Mason University and her Master’s Degree at George Washington University.

After graduation, she started work at MCI Inc., a subsidiary of Verizon. There, she met her husband Hamid Ansari. After a few years working there, she persuaded him and his brother to co-found their own company. In 1993, they started Telecom Technologies using money from their retirement accounts.

Their company was a supplier of softswitch technology that enabled telecom "service providers to enhance system performance, lower operating costs and furnish new revenue opportunities." They offered products that created a connection between existing telecom networks and application-centric, next-generation networks through software switch technology.

In 2001, the company was acquired by Sonus via a stock transaction. Ansari was kept on as a vice president and general manager. In 2006, she left and co-founded Prodea Systems, a technology and services management company. She currently holds this position.

The mid-2000s also began Ansari’s journey into space exploration. She prefers the title of “spaceflight participant.” She trained as a backup for astronaut Daisuke Enomoto on the Soyuz flight to the International Space Station. In 2006, Enomoto was medically disqualified and she was set to be aboard the trip.

Her trip was arranged through Space Adventures, a group that helps private citizens organize and plan space travel.

She lifted off on September 18, 2006 and spent about a week in space. While aboard, she conducted a number of experiments on behalf of the European Space agency including studies in the human body and the consequences of space radiation. She’s also the first person to publish a weblog from space.