TEHRAN – Eventually it is proved by Anoushe Ansari, an Iranian entrepreneur, that the West’s portrayal of the Iranian Women folk as a stereotyped one should better be forgotten.

She dreamed of becoming an astronaut since she was a child. Her dream will come true two days after her 40th birthday. On the September 17, she'll be the first female tourist to visit the International Space Station.

Today, the entire nation of Iran should cheer her for being the first among all the Iranian women to go on this adventurous journey to the space.

Born on 12 September 1966 in Mashhad, Iran, Anousheh and her family moved to Tehran shortly after she was born and they immigrated to the United States in 1984 in a condition that she was a teenager who did not speak English.

Ms. Ansari holds a Master of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from George Mason University. She is also a member of Eta Kappa Nu, IEEE and NSPE.

Prior to co-founding Prodea Systems, Ansari, along with her husband Hamid and brother-in-law Amir, founded TTI in 1993. Ansari convinced her husband to leave the company where they worked to set out on their own. Their telecommunications startup grew to employ 250 people before Ansari sold it in 2000.

Ansari was listed in Fortune magazine's "40 under 40" list in 2001 and honored by Working Woman magazine as the winner of the 2000 National Entrepreneurial Excellence award.

Most recently, Prodea, the Ansari family investment firm, has announced the formation of a partnership with Space Adventures, Ltd. and the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) to create a fleet of suborbital spaceflight vehicles (the Space Adventures Explorer) for global commercial use.

Ansari is a member of the X Prize Foundation’s Vision Circle, as well as its Board of Trustees. She has received multiple honors, including the George Mason University Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, the George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Southwest Region. While under her leadership, Telecom Technologies earned recognition as one of Inc. magazine's 500 fastest-growing companies and one of Deloitte & Touche’s Fast 500 technology companies.

Her family has gone on to not only invest in technology, but also in space exploration. The family contributed 10 million dollars to the X Foundation, set up to encourage advances in human space flight.

The money formed a prize, the Ansari X Prize, which in 2004 was awarded to Mojave Aerospace Ventures for launching a reusable space ship that reached space twice in two weeks.

Anousheh has long dreamt of traveling to space, and while she is extremely excited for herself, she is also focused on being able to share her experience with others. Her main objective of her mission is to be a space ambassador, and help to bring the space travel experience to others. Anousheh's stated mission goals are the following: To create public awareness and stimulate grassroots enthusiasm for private spaceflight; To inspire students of all ages to learn more about the virtues of space exploration; and

To promote peace and understanding as a representative for millions of Iranians that, given the right opportunities, can achieve their dreams. Anousheh has been participating in official cosmonaut training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow. Some of her training activities have included:

In preparation for her spaceflight, Anousheh and the Soyuz TMA-9 crew have spent hundreds of hours training in the Soyuz Spacecraft simulator. This simulator prepares spaceflight candidates for launch, docking, and re-entry sequences during their spaceflight.

The Soyuz spacecraft is launched to the space station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard a Soyuz rocket. It consists of an Orbital Module, a Descent Module and an Instrumentation/Propulsion Module.

She is thought to have paid about 25 million dollars (20 million euros) for the flight, which will last about 10 days and include a stay aboard the International Space Station.

Talking about her origins in Iran, Ansari says she has not forgotten her birthplace.

"People think they reach the height of their life at age 40. I'm hoping this is just the beginning of another hill that I will be climbing.” she remarks.

Anoushe, who is one of the world’s richest women with her capital of about US$600 million, works 12 hours a day.

"I hope that not only my flights, but the life I have lived so far, become an inspiration for all youth all over the world, especially women and girls around the world to pursue their dreams,” said Ansari. She hopes to inspire more women to focus on science and make their dreams come true.

"It may seem very hard... but looking at my background they can see that sometimes the impossible can be possible and dreams can come true."

Hats off to you Anoushe!!! Great going.