PARSA Feature: First Iranian in Space Brings Message of Service Back to Earth
On Monday, September 18, PARSA Community Foundation co-founder, Anousheh Ansari, became the first Iranian in space. While on board the space station, Ansari worked on several experiments for the European Space Agency, and spoke to students back on Earth. “When you’re looking at it from space, there are no borders, no signs of War and no signs of trouble, just pure beauty. From up there, people from different races and religions are only citizens of the world … America has provided a new home for people of different race, culture, and religion. Everyone comes to this country with a dream and is provided with the opportunity to realize their dream… Many Iranian-Americans who have been able to benefit from these opportunities are now making significant contributions to their adopted home.”
Ansari is co-founder and Chairman of Prodea Systems, Inc., a telecommunications firm. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. Along with her brother-in-law Amir Ansari, she made a multi-million dollar contribution to the X-Prize Foundation. The award was renamed the Ansari X Prize in honor of their gift. She hopes her work will inspire girls to study science and is using her mission as an opportunity to call attention to the opportunity—and obligation—for successful Iranians in the diaspora to invest in their communities.
Born in 1966 in Mashhad, Iran, Ansari witnessed the Iranian revolution in 1979. She immigrated to the United States in 1984 as a teenager who did not speak English. She is thrilled that her entrepreneurial success has enabled this opportunity to travel into space and hopes it serves as a symbol to inspire the global Persian community to even great achievement.