Happy New Year to Me!

Yesterday it was Sergei Krikalev's birthday and it felt like new year to me. I don't know why. I think so many things happened in life since his birthday. Let's state what things I have accomplished in space-related activities:

1. Attended Space Generation Congress and International Astronautical Congress in Fukuoka, Japan.
2. Interviewed for space documentary movie.
3. Attended SIA Board meeting as Kuwait Coordinator.
4. Had lunch and nice sushi dinner with CEO of RocketPlane, a space tourism company based in Oklahoma. And we actually discuss on how getting Kuwaiti interested in space and building a space port.
5. Gave a lecture about amateur satellites communication for students of Kuwait Amateur Radio Society.
6. Coordinated first World Space Week 2005 at The Kuwait Scientific Center.
7. Celebrated Yuri's Night with young space enthusiastic in Kuwait.
8. Established new space learning center at Kuwait Science Club.
9. Coordinated radio contact for Kuwaiti Students with crew of International Space Station.
10. Had a fun trip to Failaka island with memebrs of Kuwait Science Club to watch Perseid meteor shower.
11. Interviews by various media such as TV, radio, newspapers and magazines.

Uh, I think so many things happened for a year now. It was such a good year and I think the best. I have been so busy that I don't update my blog much often but I promise to try to update it periodicaly as much as possible.

My Krikalev new year's resolutions are:

1. To attend Space Generation Congress and International Astronautical Congress in Valencia, Spain
2. To study Russian language in Russia
3. To study aerospace engineering in Russia
4. To visit my best ham radio friend, Cor in Holland
5. To open space exhibit at Kuwait Science Club next summer
6. To meet Sergei Krikalev

Happy Birthday, Sergei!

Today is my favorite cosmonaut "Sergei Krikalev". He is turning 48 today. I wish I can greet him today in voice as I did last year sent my greetings to him while he was in space. :)

First Female Tourist

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.

[Source: CNN]
[Her personal blog]

What's Going On Up There?

I am afraid that my blogger identity has blown-up because that I appear in a space documentary movie called "What's Going On Up There?" directed by Dr. Maryanne Galvin. I did the interview when I was in Fukuoka, Japan attending Space Generation Congress 2005 (read my post). I am so excited. I cannot wait to watch her movie and my interview.

What's Going On Up There? examines the sacrifices that must be made on the road to revitalizing the space industry.
Featuring interviews with scientists and scholars at MIT, Yale, Sydney University, and UC San Francisco, attorneys, authors, entrepreneurs, economist, environmentalists, filmmakers, youngsters and average citizens--even a college student in Kuwait who wants to be the first Muslim woman in space -- this in-your-face documentary offers conversations on all sides of the space debate.