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THE BLOGOSPHERE
OUTSIDE
THE ATMOSPHERE
Can you see yourself posting from Outer Space?
Blogs in space another first for Soyuz tourist
By Laura Smith, The Guardian
"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."
So begins the blog of Anousheh Ansari, who this week created a clutch of precedents, including first paying female space tourist, first Iranian space tourist and first female Muslim in space.
The telecoms entrepreneur who emigrated to the United States at 16 and now lives in Dallas has added another probable first to the list: by blogging from space.
Beginning with launch preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Mrs Ansari used her blog to detail her every thought and feeling during her two-week adventure.
So begins the blog of Anousheh Ansari, who this week created a clutch of precedents, including first paying female space tourist, first Iranian space tourist and first female Muslim in space.
The telecoms entrepreneur who emigrated to the United States at 16 and now lives in Dallas has added another probable first to the list: by blogging from space.
Beginning with launch preparations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Mrs Ansari used her blog to detail her every thought and feeling during her two-week adventure.
Her observations include that space smells like a "burnt almond cookie" and the difficulty of keeping hold of lipgloss and trying to wash one's hair in space. The day before her return to Earth, she described "drowning in the sadness of my departure".
Yesterday she landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan. Mrs Ansari, wrapped in a fur-lined blanket against the early morning chill, smiled broadly as she sat, still strapped into her seat, in the long grass outside the Soyuz capsule.
Yesterday she landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan. Mrs Ansari, wrapped in a fur-lined blanket against the early morning chill, smiled broadly as she sat, still strapped into her seat, in the long grass outside the Soyuz capsule.
Her husband, Hamid, crept up behind her and manoeuvred around her space helmet to give her a welcoming kiss, the Associated Press reported.
Mrs Ansari said later, at a ceremony in which she was presented with embroidered Kazakh robes and hats, that the most striking aspects of her journey were seeing the Earth from space and the friendship developed aboard the orbiting station with Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and US astronaut Jeffrey Williams.
"Anousheh has done a good job - she's one of the team," Itar-Tass quoted Mr Vinogradov as saying. Her blog also drew hundreds of responses from Earth, one urging: "Pray for world peace while you are up there. It's probably a local call rather than a long-distance one."
Mrs Ansari said later, at a ceremony in which she was presented with embroidered Kazakh robes and hats, that the most striking aspects of her journey were seeing the Earth from space and the friendship developed aboard the orbiting station with Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov and US astronaut Jeffrey Williams.
"Anousheh has done a good job - she's one of the team," Itar-Tass quoted Mr Vinogradov as saying. Her blog also drew hundreds of responses from Earth, one urging: "Pray for world peace while you are up there. It's probably a local call rather than a long-distance one."
Wow. Who'da thunk it? I didn't even know what a blog was 18 months ago.
ReplyDeleteHey, Andrea, neither did I. Homo Escargots was doing it for months and I'd drop anonymous smart-ass comments onto his site...
ReplyDeleteThen decided to give it a shot myself. I STILL don't know what a blog is, really.
Hey, I wonder what it would be like to paint in space?
Like, how would the paint stay there on your pallet or whatever?
Or would you just hold the canvas in two hands and wave it around, plastering the floating colours onto the surface?
Wild.
aawwww- i wanted to do that!
ReplyDeletehowdy dude- i'm back!
thanx for all the wishes and thoughts!
Glad to have you back, Angel. I think you'd only need a few million dollars...got it?
ReplyDeleteAndrea:
There's an artist named Christopher Pratt coming through with some sort of show.
Any relation?
I live on Planet MJ. I post from outer space every day.
ReplyDeleteokay...thats one thing I can never be the first to do now! Man! Bollocks!
ReplyDeleteBut she did it, and arent we all happy...long live blogs!!!!
Aidan, You and I think alike...I was wondering about doing something else in space.
ReplyDeleteWW, I think if all the people in the world took turns going up into space and we looked down on this beautiful blue ball, we'd come back with a different attitude. Nice music selection!
Aidan/Carm:
ReplyDeleteIt's not the first thing I thought of either, but then I'm a totally innocent human been...
Apparently unlike you two. You'd think I'd know about this stuff, given my Orion background.
I'm willing to be a male guinea pig with a willing female, however...
MJ:
Yep, we know. What does MJ stand for, anyhow, Ms. Secretive? And wouldn't you then have answers for such heavy topics?
Ghosty:
You mean you can be first to do everything else? What, pray tell, might that include?
Carm:
OK, well you're closer than anyone to the space shuttle launch site and all. Can you arrange it?
mj is right damnit! And you all better start listening to her if you want to get out of here alive!
ReplyDeleteAidan/Carm,
ReplyDeleteCHECKMATE!!!!!
I'm not being secretive, believe it or not. Though it's not the name on my birth certificate, it's the name almost everyone has called me since childhood. Honest!
ReplyDeleteNow, are you going to come peaceably?
Aidan,I don't play chess.
ReplyDeleteWW: Don't go there. The mind boggles. It just might explode and that wouldn't be pretty. (Though it might be art.)
ReplyDeleteMJ:
ReplyDeleteOK, Mary Jane. But where am I going peaceably to?
Aidan:
Note that Carm doesn't play chess. Must be Checkers or Scrabble or something she's talking about.
Andrea:
That's exactly why I thought it WOULD be art...
Have you been reading my mail?
ReplyDelete*stunned silence*
*reads it again*
*no further comment*