Anousheh 'does breakfast,' March 26 with Women in Aerospace at the Library of Congress

Joel Raupe - Lunar Pioneer

Anousheh Ansari will be in Washington, Wednesday morning, March 26 to visit my high school.

(Well, not exactly. I was a Page for the U.S. House for eighteen months attending the U.S. Capitol Page School housed in the incredibly ornate Main Building of the Library of Congress, built, or better "hewn," in 1889. We had more than a few wonderful guests but few I'd rather have met and been inspired by Anousheh Ansari, even if she was only nine years old at the time.)

Anousheh Ansari, co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems, Inc., will "do breakfast" at the Library, just accross from the East Front of the U.S. Capitol and on behalf of the worthy causes of Women in Aerospace.

The Signature Series Event will kick off a symposium "Celebrating Women Pioneer," sponsored by WIA with the visit by the most famous member of the Ansari family, founders of the X-Prize.

Anousheh Ansari, you could hardly forget, is among the few to visit ISS, in 2006, spending ten days on- board while staying in close touch with tens of thousands, inspired by her privately funded excersion, by radio and by Blog.

Quoting the WIA flyer" "Anousheh Ansari is the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems, Inc and a spaceflight participant with the Russian space program.

Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. (TTI).

The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X PRIZE. On September 18, 2006, a few days after her 40th birthday, she became the first female Muslim and first Iranian in space. Ansari is the fourth overall self-funded space tourist, and the first self-funded woman to fly to the International Space Station."

Now if you're headed to the LOC, here's an "accidental native's" tip.

Take the Metro, and decipher the Fault map inside every rail car in hope of eventually arriving at the South Capitol Street station. At the top of the long escalator, turn north and cross C street under the weary gaze of U.S. Capitol Police, between the Joe Cannon House Office Building on your left and the Marble Shoe Box, the James Madison Library of Congress Annex on your right.

Through the next intersection, the Library is the on your right. You can't miss it.