Anousheh Ansari, the first woman space tourist is among a handful to ever blog from space - yes, astronauts have been doing it for ages. Ever since boarding her shuttle flight for the ISS in near Earth orbit, Anousheh has been sharing her thoughts and her Space Explorer  Flickr photo stream with the world. Describing everything from the initial take off to making fun of "space fashion" she is at once technical and also a like a child on a wonderous journey. 

In The Road to Baikonur leading up to the launch, she mentions her dreams of always wanting to visit space saying, "A long, long time ago, in a country far, far away… there was a young girl who had her eyes fixed on the twinkling stars of the night skies over Tehran. Back then the air was not so polluted and you could see many stars in the night skies. 

Summer time, when they would set up the beds outside on the balcony to sleep, she would lay in her bed and look deep into the mysterious darkness of the universe and think to herself, What’s out there? Is someone out there awake in her bed, and gazing at her in the night sky? Will she ever find her… See her… Will she fly out there and float in the wonderful, boundless freedom of space?"

 A great perspective of life and daily activities aboard the crowded ISS is offered in Close Quarters "where I guess those of you in college and living in a dormitory can relate to it. There is one big difference though… When you get sick of your roommate you just step out and go walk for while or talk to someone else or sleep someplace else. Here, if you don’t like your roommate, there is nowhere to go. The next ride home arrives in six months and you better work on your interpersonal relationships."

Like many others, I found The Ride Down enthralling to read especially when she remarks , "I was feeling the G’s now. It felt similar to what I felt in the centrifuge but 2 G’s in centrifuge felt much less than 2 G’s descending… I was strapped down so tight that I felt my shoulder bones could break."

I'm glad she make it down in one piece as were countless others. Do check out the Space Explorer blog for yourself and check out the Deep Dish music also.  Acclaimed UK artists Deep Dish have gotten involved, releasing a special track and dedicating their new album to her.The track Be The Change was created just for this trip and highlights their upcoming album. It is also featured on this slideshow  at Anousheh's personal site.

Via Yahoo News. 

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