The world's first female space tourist, American national Anousheh Ansari, said she is savoring every bit of her time at the Space Station, despite the trip's hefty price tag. Ansari, 40, told reporters she has no regrets at a press conference broadcast from the International Space Station, responding to a reporter's question about the more than 20 million dollars she reportedly paid for the eight-day space tour.
"I am having a wonderful time here. It's been more than what I expected, and I am enjoying every single second of it. The entire experience has been wonderful up here," she said.
"But the favorite moment, as I suspected, was the moment I was able to see the Earth for the first time and see it as so beautiful and peaceful in the dark background, and it was a moment I will never forget."
Ansari, who lived in Iran until the age of 16, is only the fourth space tourist in history, but the first woman to take the extraordinary voyage.
She said she had experienced some spacesickness during the trip, however: "I did suffer a lot of the usual symptoms of being in orbit, like back pain, headache and motion sickness," she said.
But in her healthier moments, she has also had a chance to enjoy both Russian and American food at the space station.
"They are both really good, actually," she said. "Surprisingly very tasty."
Wednesday, Ansari checked into her quarters aboard the ISS, where she is staying along with five professional astronauts.
Ansari made millions in the telecom sector, and her family has gone on to invest in technology and space exploration, contributing 10 million dollars to the X Foundation, set up to encourage advances in human space flight.
She accompanied NASA's Michael Lopez-Alegria and Russia's Mikhail Tyurin to the ISS, and she is due to land in Kazakhstan on September 29, along with Jeffrey Williams and Pavel Vinogradov.
Source: Agence France-Presse
