American to become first female space tourist

Russia's space agency announced Tuesday that US entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari will fly to the international space station next month, becoming the first woman to make a paid voyage to the station, news agencies reported. On Monday, officials said Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto, who was to blast off for the ISS on Sept. 14, had failed a medical test. Roskosmos space agency officials could not immediately be reached for comment. Ansari, born in Iran, is a co-founder of the Texas-based company Telecom Technologies Inc. The space flight takes off from Russia's manned launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, and includes Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and U.S. astronaut Miguel Lopez-Alegria. Ansari is to return to Earth 10 days later with Pavel Vinogradov and Jeff Williams, who have been aboard the space station since April 1.