I have been reading books about space since, well, since I learned how to read. Indeed this is how I learned to really read a book - since the books I had to read in school were lame. Nearly half a century later, I have read an unknown number of books that chronicle the life stories of those who have come to be involved with the exploration of space. Every book is different yet every book is the same since the paths that people took were similar and overlapping. Some came from Nazi Germany, others from small towns in America or Russia.
But until now I had not read a story of someone who aspired to touch the stars from the midst of revolution-racked Iran.
Such is the story of Anousheh Raissyan - better known by her married name, Ansari. In describing "My Dream of Stars: From Daughter of Iran to Space Pioneer" I just want to tell you all that is in it - but that is Anousheh's task - done with the deft guidance of Homer Hickam. Homer first gained notoriety as the author of "Rocket Boys" - which also chronicled an improbable journey from a poor coal mining town in West Virginia to a long career at NASA. A better guide Anousheh could not have found.
The story Anousheh tells begins in an Iran that was still ruled by the Shah. All too soon the fires of revolution swept up the entire nation - not just the young men, but old people and little girls. Yet through out this tumultuous and very dangerous time, Anousheh managed to find solace albeit fleeting by looking up at the stars at night and visiting them in her mind.
As I turned the pages of this book I was reminded of a time in my life when these same events in Iran affected me. I was in graduate school in the early 1980s and had an office mate who I will simply refer to as "Reza". Reza came from a wealthy family in Teheran and was studying to be a doctor when the revolution exploded. He was caught outside the country and unable to return. With no access to families assistance he as stranded in a foreign country unable to get home.
I often hired Reza to work with me as a house painter. He was happy for the work and worked his butt off. I saw something in Reza that comes through clearly in this book through Anousheh's words: an unflinching determination to not let life's current troubles get in the way realizing a dream. The more dire the circumstances, it seems the more pronounced her will to push through and surmount adversity.
Eventually, Anousheh and parts of her family made their way to America. Unlike many newcomers she did not isolate herself from the cacaphony of opportunity that is America. Rather, she dived right in. Meeting her husband, she and others soon accomplished the quintessential American dream when their start-up made them millionaires.
Throughout it all, that dream of stars would not go away. Augmented with what Elon Musk often refers to as "non-trvial resources" Anousheh went from dreaming about stars to thinking about actually visiting them. Eventually she acted on her dream and found herself training as a backup for another commercial space traveller in Russia. An unexpected medical disqualification with the prime passenger and suddenly she was mere weeks away for a trip into space.
These days when you make one of these trips, you have to do something with the nortoriety. Everyone who does this finds a different way to do it. In Anousheh's case, she was suc an improbable space traveller that there was intrinsic interest that really did not need to be generated - just channeled.
During her flight she sent updates from space that were posted in a blog. The claim from her PR flaks being made was that she was the "first blogger in space". Well, I got into nit picking and jumped on that since she was emailing from space - not blogging. But over the days as her mission proceeded I saw some startling things in the comments that appeared on her site. Many were in Farsi but many were in passable English. The sentiments came through loud and clear.
For this instant in time she was pulling her fellow Iranians out of their own daily troubles and bringing them up into space with her. As improbable as her own life story was up to this point it now worked like a magnet on others like her back on Earth. Eventually, I felt compelled to write a retraction of sorts - you can read it <a href=" [...] on her blog.
Professional astronauts are chosen for their ability to fly the rockets and make all the fancy gear work. They are not chosen for their ability to experience or express themsleves. There is nothing in their daily work schedule wherein they are supposed to be awed. Anousheh had all of her time in orbit to do this.
In the case of Anousheh and others who bought their own ticket into space, there was already something ticking in their heads that had made them wealthy but also yearning to do something as unusual such as ride into space. Up until now all of the passengers had all been middle-aged male businessmen.
As such, Anousheh had a unqiue perspective. Reading some of her descriptions of life in space, you get the impression that she may be the first person to notice and then write about many fundamental aspects of space travel. One passage in particular grabbed me by both shoulders when I first read it - and yes, brought a tear to mey eye since I could easily imagine myself in an identical moment. In this case it was shortly after she had reached orbit:
"Throwing off my belts I was able to take a look through the tiny porthole of the capsule and saw the Earth from space for the first time. My laughter stopped as tears welled up in my eyes. I saw a small crystal float away from me. It was beautiful, a pretty little diamond. I wondered where it came from, if perhaps some worker had lost the setting from her ring. Then I realized it was one of my tears. It seemed to be attracted to the Earth. It touched the glass in the porthole and became for just a moment the tiniest of rainbows. I could not catch my breath. My beautiful planet, under the warm rays of the sun, turned gracefully beneath me I was entranced."
I go there - to that moment - when I read these words.
"My Dream of Stars" is an astonishing and almost improbable but very human journey from war torn Iran to outer space. In reading this book you get the impression that if Anousheh can do something like this then anyone can.
The world is changing. Inevitably, life in space will change too. Some day soon, it will no longer be the sole province of practitioners of the "Right Stuff" from a small group of rich nations. Anousheh was the one of the very first people to see this change with her own eyes - and to redefine who gets to to go - and why. I have no doubt that she will continue to be a force for change back on Earth.
This is her story.
Keith Cowing, editor [..]
