Pre-launch notes

Some various items about Anousheh Ansari and her upcoming flight:

• On his blog, MSNBC’s Alan Boyle touches upon the sensitive issue of religion and space, including the possibility that she will be able to observe the new moon from the ISS a day earlier than observers on the ground, triggering an early start to the holy month of Ramadan.
• Ansari tells ABC’s Good Morning America Weekend Edition show that not only is she looking forward to the flight (even the cuisine), but also developing a robust space tourism industry afterwards. “There is, absolutely, a lot of money to be made in space tourism and space travel,” she said. “We need innovators for the future to make sure that the space exploration industries flourish.”
• The AP profiles Ansari, discussing in detail how she made the fortune that allows her to afford the trip to space and other space-related investments. It’s not all a happy entrepreneurial success story, though: the article notes that she is facing a shareholder lawsuit, accusing her of insider trading for selling shares of Sonus, the company that acquired her telecom startup, before the telecom market collapse earlier this decade. (The article doesn’t mention that such shareholder suits are common any time a company’s stock tanks, so a suit here may only mean there are disgruntled shareholders.)
• Ansari is also anticipating the Overview Effect. “I’m actually hoping that your point of view will change when you see the Earth from space for the first time,” she said, adding that seeing how “small and fragile” the Earth is “will give us a better sense of responsibility.” Another interesting item: the AFP reports that Ansari “is thought to have paid about 25 million dollars (20 million euros)” for the flight, which would be about $5 million more than the estimated list price for such flights. However, the AFP reporter could have also simply goofed on the dollar-euro conversion.
• The blogger “Dr. Sanity” notes some silly Photoshopping done by the Iranian media, putting a helmet on Ansari’s head, lest her bare head be seen.

Also, Ansari has made one final pre-launch entry on her blog, calling her feeling “a strange mix of excitement and anxiety”. She won’t be posting again until she reaches the ISS; “the internet onboard the Soyuz is not working.”