I’ve seen a number of references to Anousheh Ansari being the first Muslim woman in space, including this piece on space tourism in today’s issue of The Space Review, by Taylor Dinerman. I know that she’s Iranian, but this is the first time that I’ve heard that she’s a practicing Muslim. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, of course, but I was doing a search on “Anousheh Ansari Muslim” and I can’t find any primary source to that effect.

For instance, in this roundup at Muslim World News, all the story says is:

Moscow, May 8 (DPA) An Iranian-born US businesswoman is tipped to become the first woman “space tourist” to fly to the International Space Station (ISS), Russian media reported Monday.

Telecommunications manager Anousheh Ansari, who was born in 1967, may make a short flight to the orbiter next spring as part of a Russian crew, space officials told the Itar-Tass news agency.

Nothing about her religion. Looking at her web site, there’s no mention of her religion. She talks about wanting to inspire Iranians, but says nothing about Muslims. One would think that one’s religion would be described in an “about” section, unless she’s concerned about negative perceptions arising from it. That doesn’t mean, of course, that she’s not Muslim, but I can find no actual evidence that she is.

So is it true, or is this just an assumption that many are making because of her birth nationality?

I would also note, per this statement by Dinerman:

The industry has a long way to go to get there. The problem is still the cost of access to orbit. Some in the space industry believe that NASA