Anousheh Ansari

Anousheh Ansari (Persian: انوشه انصاری; née Raissyan;^[2] born September 12, 1966) is an Iranian-American engineer. She is the co-founder and chairwoman of Prodea Systems.

Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari
Born	Anousheh Raissyan (1966-09-12) 12 September 1966 (age 58) Mashhad, Iran
Nationality	Iranian American
Citizenship	Dual Iranian-American[source?]
Education	Electrical engineering and computer science
Alma mater	George Mason University George Washington University
Occupation	Businessperson
Title	CEO of X Prize Foundation[1]
Spouse	Hamid Ansari ​ (m. 1991)​
Relatives	Amir Ansari (Brother-in-law)
Status	Retired
Occupation	Electrical Engineer
Space career
Spaceflight participant
Time in space	10d 21h 5m
Missions	Soyuz TMA-9/8
Website	anoushehansari.com

On September 18, 2006, a few days after her 40th birthday, she became the first Iranian ever in space. Ansari was the fourth overall self-funded space tourist, and the first self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station.^[3]