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’s COTS (Commercial Orbital Transportation Services) will eventually lead to a second path for space tourists in get into orbit. Others are more or less skeptical, since NASA’s track record on commercialization is not very good. Mike Griffin seems more committed to COTS and to the entrepreneurial space sector than previous administrators, but unless he can profoundly reform the system COTS may not survive his tenure.

My understanding is that it's not Griffin's tenure that COTS has to survive, but George Bush's. My sources tell me that the strongest support for it comes not from NASA, but from the White House. That means we have about two years to prove the program's worth with cost-effective milestones. And even that may not be enough.

By the way, via my search, here's an interesting blog by a Kuwaiti girl who wants to be the first Arab Muslim female to go into space, called "So I Want To Be An Astronaut."

May her wish come true.

The VSE and Griffin appear to have substantial support in Congress:

At roughly 12:30pm this crowd, all wearing Mars Society Convention name tags, headed to the Metro on a journey toward the Capitol South Metro stop. Miraculously, we didn’t lose anybody during this process as the teams scattered to various congressional office buildings: some went to the Senate side and others remained on the House side to begin a dizzying number of Congressional meetings.

In hand they brought talking points that expressed support for the Vision for Space Exportation (VSE), but we also requested that VSE proceed as efficiently as possible by 1) using common hardware for the Moon and Mars (when possible), 2) accelerating the VSE schedule, 3) using in situ resource utilization on the moon and Mars (when possible). We also requested that NASA conduct a repair mission on the Hubble Space Telescope.

The reaction from Congress was what I can only call “freakishly” positive. Although previous efforts have produced some good results, I was stunned by how many positive meetings occurred during this short period of time. We received dozens of requests for follow-up information, strong statements of support for VSE, and even some requests to testify in front of Congress—all in all, a pretty good day on the Hill.

Mike Griffin was confirmed nearly unanimously by the Senate and has built bridges to Democratic members of Congress. I do not see any reason to believe Griffin will be fired in 2009. Who might a Democratic president name instead? No one I can think of.

Also, Mike Griffin NEEDS the COTS program because there is not enough money to accomplish the VSE without COTS. Last summer (2005) at the Las Vegas Return to the Moon conference, NASA officials were quite blunt about this. If the CEV is needed for ISS taxi service we cannot afford the Moon. Therefore, being able to hand off ISS logistics to SpaceX and Kistler is the critical path.

Anousheh Ansari does not wear a head covering in public. So, if she is a practicing Muslim, she must belong to a very liberal denomination.

Edward, there are "Friday Muslims" who don't live in purdah and even, on occassion, take a drink, just as there "Sunday Christians" who are not entire strict in their behavior.

> Edward, there are "Friday Muslims" who don't live in purdah

Your point being? I said "head covering," not "purdah."

I always thought she was an iranian jew.

not that it matters

A Muslim wants to go to space? Can't we leave her there? (Spacesuit optional.)

k8 came up in my search for blogs talking about SpaceShot. And we think we're voices in the wilderness.

She is quoted in USA Today as calling herself a "liberal Muslim".