While Anousheh Ansari is scheduled to be in Las Cruces for the Wirefly X Prize Cup, she first paid a visit to Russia, attending a ceremony in Russia to commemorate her recent flight to the ISS. She said that Russia now held a special place in her heart, alongside Iran and the United States. She also said that she’d like to return to space at some point in the future, and wished her flight last month had lasted longer. “The only thing that keeps bringing me back to Earth is my family,” she said. “If I could have taken them up there with me, I probably would have just stayed forever.” She also hinted that she is interested in funding a future X Prize competition for a lunar lander (a real one, not the analogs that compete for NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge).
If you will be in the Dallas area on November 2nd, you have a chance to meet her at an event hosted by the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Admission costs $15, and includes a presentation by Ansari and a reception afterwards, “including an opportunity for guests to personally meet Ansari”.
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