Meet the first female space tourist

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DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- An Iranian-born U.S. woman said Friday she will become the world's first female space tourist on September 14, joining a Russian crew on a mission to the international space station.

Anousheh Ansari will join the crew of the Soyuz TMA-9, which will launch from Kazakhstan, according to the home-technology company, Prodea Systems Inc., run by Ansari's family.

"This is a dream that I've longed for since childhood," Ansari said. "I'm fascinated by the mystery and beauty of the cosmos. I deeply believe that the long-term survival of the human race will largely depend on our achievements in space exploration."

Russia's space agency announced Ansari's trip Tuesday.

Officials said she would replace a Japanese businessman who failed a medical test.

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and U.S. astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria are also scheduled to be on the trip. Ansari is expected to return to Earth 10 days later with Pavel Vinogradov and Jeff Williams, who have been on the space station since April 1.

Ansari's company is sponsoring her trip. She is the chairwoman, and her husband is chief executive.

The company helped fund a competition, renamed the Ansari X Prize, for the first privately financed manned spacecraft to make a suborbital flight.

According to the company, Ansari immigrated to the United States from Iran as a teenager and earned degrees in computer and electrical engineering.

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