NASA Resigned to Space Tourism

Sept. 18, 2006 — It's a busy time aboard the International Space Station, which just got its first new addition since before the 2003 Columbia accident.

The shuttle Atlantis crew has left, a Russian Progress capsule needs to be dumped and a new crew is coming aboard to take over control of the half-built outpost.

Not the ideal time for a space tourist, or spaceflight participant in NASA parlance, but the fourth visitor is en route, nonetheless.

"I think there are risks having non-professionals (aboard)," the station's incoming commander Michael Lopez-Alegria said in an interview. "If nothing else, you reduce your efficiency because you always have to have one guy looking at him out of the corner of his eye."

Unlike the previous three station tourists, this tourist is a woman.

Soft-spoken space philanthropist Aneousheh Ansari, whose family sponsored the $10 million Ansari X Prize for private manned spaceflight, bought a seat on Russia's Soyuz capsule for about $20 million after officials ruled out Japanese-born businessman Daisuke Enomoto for undisclosed medical reasons.

The prospect of his flight had Lopez-Alegria a bit concerned because the boyish Enomoto spoke little English and even less Russian. Ansari, 40, is a native of Iran who immigrated to the United States when she was 16.

She and her family made their fortune in the telecommunications industry.

On Sunday, hours before the rocket lifted off carrying Lopez-Alegria, flight engineer Makhail Tyurin and Ansari, the commander said he is impressed by Ansari's professionalism.

"I recognize the requirements that the Russian space agency has to keep its program alive, we can't do what we're doing without them," he said at a prelaunch press conference.

"If somebody like Anousheh can be that person, then I have come to the realization that not only is it good from a technical standpoint, just to keep the program going," Lopez-Alegria said. "But it's also good from the standpoint that she represents a great dream and a great hope for a lot of people, not just in our country and Iran, but all over the world."

"I was sincerely surprised when we started working together by the high level of professionalism she has even though she's not a professional cosmonaut," Tyurin added, speaking through a translator. "She became such a natural part of our crew we have the impression we've been working together for maybe 10 years."

Ansari said she expects to have full access to the space station.

"I have basically been told I can go anywhere as long as I am very careful and I follow the procedures that have been provided to me," she said in an interview.

After raising a ruckus over the 2001 launch of the first space tourist, California investment banker Dennis Tito, NASA has tried to ignore the practice.

"It's OK from an overall standpoint," said NASA's associate administrator for spaceflight Bill Gerstenmaier. "The station is at a pretty stable configuration. It'll be fine."

Ansari will fly back to Earth on Sept. 28 with the returning space station crewmembers Pavel Vinogradov and Jeff Williams.

The third station crewmember, Europe's Thomas Reiter, will stay aboard until his replacement, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams, arrives with the next shuttle crew in December.