Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian astronaut
IRAN: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he is ready to take the
risk of becoming the first human being sent into space by Iran, national
media reports.
“I'm ready to be the first Iranian to sacrifice myself for our
country's scientists,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as
saying on the sidelines of an exhibition of space achievements in Tehran
on Monday.
Iran said it sent a monkey into space one week ago, describing the
launch as a successful step towards Tehran's plan to send an astronaut
into space within the next five to six years.
The monkey named “Pishgam”, which means pioneer in Farsi, reportedly
travelled 120km and safely returned to Earth.
The launch added to Western concerns about Iran's space programme
because the same rocket technology could potentially be used to deliver
a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.
In 2010, Iran said it launched an Explorer rocket into space carrying
a mouse, a turtle and worms.
Iran's space officials say Iran will launch a bigger rocket carrying
a larger animal to obtain greater safety assurances before sending a man
into space.
Space tourist Anousheh Ansari was the first Iranian to make a journey
into space aboard a Soyuz TMA-9 capsule from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, in
2006.
The 40-year-old telecommunications entrepreneur paid a reported $20m
for a space station visit.
- AL JAZEERA
|