Anousheh Ansari

In 2006 Anousheh Ansari, who dreamt of space travel since childhood, became the first female space tourist as well as the first person of Iranian descent to travel into space. An entrepreneur, she co-founded and became CEO of Telecom Technologies in 2001, developing the "softswitch" which is used for Internet voice communications. Ansari is currently co-founder and CEO of her newest venture, Prodea Systems, and she is a member of X Prize Foundation’s Vision Circle and Board of Trustees, as well as a lifetime member in the Association of Space Explorers. Updated 2010