My Dream of Stars: From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer

257 Pages·2010·1.37 MB·English

by  Anousheh Ansari

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My Dream of Stars
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My Dream of Stars
From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer
Anousheh Ansari
with
Homer Hickam
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The poem by Karen Ravn that appears in the Epilogue is reprinted courtesy of Hallmark
Cards, Inc.
MYDREAMOFSTARS
Copyright © Anousheh Ansari and Homer Hickam, 2010.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division
of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by
Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England,
company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has
companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN-13: 978-0-230-61993-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ansari, Anousheh, 1966–
My dream of stars : from daughter of Iran to space pioneer / by Anousheh Ansari with
Homer Hickam.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-230-61993-7 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-230-61993-2 (hardcover)
1. Ansari, Anousheh, 1966– 2. Women astronauts—United States—Biography. 3.
Astronauts—United States—Biography. 4. Space flight—United States. 5. Iranian
Americans—Biography. 6. Muslim women—United States—Biography. 7.
Businesswomen—Texas—Biography. 8. Telecommunication—United States. 9.
Social entrepreneurship—United States. 10. Iran—Biography. I. Hickam, Homer,
1943– II. Title.
CT275.A736A3 2010
629.450092—dc22
[B]
2009025884
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Letra Libre, Inc.
First edition: March 2010
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
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To Ilya,
whose innocence and purity of love
gives me hope for brighter tomorrows.
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“All men have the stars,” he answered, “but they are not the same
things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are
guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For
others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman
they were wealth. But all the stars are silent. You—you alone—will
have the stars as no one else has them—”
The Little Princeby Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
First Stage An Iranian Girl
Growing Up Iranian 3
Revolution 17
Second Stage A Woman of the World
The Alpha Ansari System 29
Texas 51
A New Beginning 71
An Old Dream Comes Alive 89
Third Stage A Woman of the Stars
Star City 101
Training for the Stars 119
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A Patch of Trouble 149
Into Space 169
At Home among the Stars 189
Return to Earth 219
Epilogue 227
Index 231
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Acknowledgments
W
riting this book was not easy because I always look to the future
rather than back at the past. Reliving tough childhood memories
is not something I would do voluntarily so I must thank Homer Hickam for
encouraging me (and sometimes harassing me) to finish this book. Other-
wise, it would only exist in my head and in my scattered journals.
I decided to tell my story to bring a voice to all the amazing women in the
world, especially to Iranian women who have fought and continue to fight
for their freedom, and to Iranians around the world who have left their home-
land in search of that freedom and better days. It is sometimes difficult to see
the true face of a nation when what is prevalent in the media is a hideous
image. I hope this book shows readers that there is another side to the beau-
tiful country I left as a teenager and that there are still many Anoushehs who
live in Iran with hopes and dreams of a brighter, peaceful future.
My dreams might have never come true without the opportunities that
the United States of America afforded me, for which I’m forever grateful. I
learned the meaning of freedom in my adopted country and I hope that
America continues to symbolize freedom and the land of opportunity to
people around the world as it did for me.
I am who I am today because of the unconditional love and support of
my mother, Fakhri Shahidi. She, in many ways, portrays the strong will and