US businesswoman Anousheh Ansari, will travel to the ISS on September 18 as part of the Russian Soyuz "taxi mission," and hopes to try ham QSOs from space. Ansari had decided originally, not to do ham contacts after realizing her heavy schedule didn't allow her to study for her ham exam. She was scheduled to fly in 2007, but when Daisuke Enomoto was grounded due to medical issues, her ETA was moved up. Ansari was trained on the ISS radios by the Russian ARISS Team quite a few months ago. Now, she has decided to go for a potential QSO with students at George Washington University, her alma mater, on September 22.

"The ARISS AMSAT Washington DC Team was asked just recently to support this QSO, and have done an outstanding job pulling everything together quickly," says ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO. "Mark Steiner, K3MS, is leading the effort.

In addition, Anoushe hopes to talk with US-licensed school children, and take advantage of the astronauts as her Control Operator. She will be listening at various times on Thursday, September 21, through Tuesday, September 26, using RS0ISS." Because of third-party issues, Ansari may only speak to youths who have ham licenses. She is the fourth private citizen and the first female civilian, to fly to the ISS.