>> they give for coming here tonight i know friday night you have better things to do but i am very appreciative to have you here and it is my first book signing in dallas which is my home town i live right here in plano, not too far from here. it is pretty special for me and especially this is my first book ever that makes it much more special. i don't know how these things go normally is so i will maybe start by giving you a little bit of my story or maybe read a few passages from the book and the best part i think is to open for questions because i think that is the best way to get

the story across. but maybe before i talk about myself i tell you a little bit how i came across my co-author of broke he is a famous author that wrote many books but the most famous is the rocket boys which is his memoirs and passions for space which i share with him. he started to read about me in the paper and learned there was this iranian american girl coming into space on the russian rocket and he decided let me find out who she is associate contacted my office to get in touch with me but at that time i was already in russia preparing for my flight further she is interested she is in busy right now.

this session will get in touch with the new when she returns. he followed by blog which to my surprise became very popular because people appreciated my honest and frank way to describe my experience is and i tried to be as open and honest and retain these writing this book before even going into space. and then followed to be on my block and then said if you decide to write a book let me know and i will be happy to help you. and said maybe you should write a book and which i was not too crazy about the adr burper i am sure i'm sure

writing everything there is to know about you and i was afraid of people finding out about my life it is an uncomfortable feeling and everybody knowing everything there is. i fell to that one of my passions outside the space is to get young girls, especially young girls but the overall kids interested in space and math and science to go after their dreams and believe in themselves and i say that the inspiration to go after what they love. that is the reason i decided to write the book.

i have not written anything outside the blog it was a learning experience i would not finished the book because writing about space and said it write about your child what i said no i want to write about space-bar to we have ups and downs and we want to forget them and focus on the future. to want to focus on the best part of my life which is space. i told him he'd be did out of me and drag a bad of me so it became me memoir and then coming here to the united states learning a new language and a new culture and eventually becoming a

successful entrepreneur building a career which eventually led to be realizing a childhood dream that was going through space. of the story i think is an immigrant story, a story of america and dreams, a lot of different things that have come together and they personification of my a multifaceted life. i hope you would enjoy reading a. i made a elaborate to a little bit more with more details with my personal life and iran. i was born in a city in iran when i grew up in the capital city of tehran and of there for a while that

was what changed my life. i went to a french catholic school despite my up cream day shipping because of the revolution it was closed after the first year we were moved around too different schools and my friends were spread all over and light four wind changed and being a teenager then with the war it teaches you a lot of things. i remember the first time the revolution i did not know what it meant. i had no concept i was never a round against to see the guns it was a learning experience for a teenager growing up. but getting ready for

graduation they thought maybe it was a good idea to come to the united states and start life over. many iranians probably went through the same thing and decided to leave everything behind and start a new life and especially their children have a chance to have a better life. there is stuff that talking about going to school are becoming an engineer or miti my husband which is a big part of my life and you will see the ideal that many things that happened in my life is because of the love that we share and out of the support of an unconditional support the i get that is why part of every cent of the book is a low story.

talk about putting my a passion for space on hold for a little while thinking this would be my best chance to become a master not to the country that space is a big part of but i learned there others then just becoming a good student and justin after a lot of turmoil from iran and the relationships were not that good and starting life over in the country without a lot of money my mom told me i recommend they study something that will actually land you a job after school. nice arabian girls always listen to their moms. i did this into my mom.

decided to go to an engineering school which is something i really enjoyed. that led me to build a career of communication than starting a company later on. throughout this whole thing that happened to me the most people would have given up on the idea because they figure my life had taken a different turn and it has nothing to do with space now so it is probably a childhood dream and a blood forget about it. but i felt somehow to find a way too eventually fell that dream even though i was on a detour i looked at it as a detoured and thought maybe my company will come up with this amazing invention to do something to cause nasa to want me to put manesh

shuttle to our space. i will find a way and i did not know how but found that deep down i could find a way to go to space. and that is a big part to achieve a dream or a passion that they have that is the reason when i talk to students want that message to come across nice and strong. later on some of my passion for space became a source of inspiration and motivation to grow my company. i was never motivated by money. we had a nice company doing great. but the reason i wanted to grow it and after i saw the first private citizen who was able to negotiated deal to go to international space station on the soyuz program

and i saw that on cnn and i thought that is the way if i could just find the money somehow. [laughter] then i could be able to. it became an inspiration for me to build my company and grow it. once i was able to do that i looked at other possibilities and there is a way to make this happen for everyone because there will be others that shared their dream with me. and looking at the options and i met with the founder who was named peter and he is my hero actually and he told me of his vision of the prize to inspire entrepreneurs to build spaceships that would go to space. not government agencies but those in their garages and that would be a cool idea.

, entrepreneurs building spaceships to prove the government agencies you can do a better cheaper faster in that is what it is all about. a $10 million prize for a private company to build spaceships to go to space and in 2004 and american and aerospace engineer won the prize and his design became very famous it was right above apollo 11 hanging there he is in the museum and i am proud to say i had something to do with that. because he won but prize the fall paradigm shift happened and also through my involvement i detoured back

into my flight into space and ended up in russia training and when i was there i had no idea that i would get a chance to fly to space. i was just given the opportunity to go and train and a lot of people may have said why would i go spend six months in the cold winter of moscow and go there for no apparent reason and to me it was an opportunity to go spend time with the astronauts and walk in the same hallways of pass astronauts and go to the same places the first person who went to space resided. that whole history of the russian space program compelled me to go there. been there gave that opportunities for the right place at the right time but unfortunately for their primary crewmember he

developed kidney stones which disqualify him from the plate. but fortunately for me i was there to say i will take his seat and that is what i did. that is another point* usually when i talk to students which i do quite often, i tried to tell them that if you have a passion and there is something that you want to do even if you are far from it coming 1/2 to have that in the forefront of your mind and make sure that you look for those opportunities as they come along because you don't know when they will come along and if you are not ready may not notice them and you will let them go and later he will realize what happened and you will regret it. i think it was true for me. i was there and ready and spend the 61 straining as if i was going to space i was

not just walking around and having a good time and snapping pictures but i was there to learn and wanted to get something out of it even if i did not go to space but it paid off a lot of the details of the training which is interesting that different criteria, my qualifications for the program, details are in the book and you can read it and all glorious detail. that gives you some background information and allows you to ask me some questions and maybe the best thing now is to go to questions. i usually answer all questions i have i have not received any question that i said i would not rather answers so feel free to ask any questions. >> please wait for the microphone.

>> first of all, i am very proud of you. >> thank you. i mean it. a kidney stone cannot be all that bad because there is a benefit for somebody. [laughter] but has there been a paradigm shift in your be the fined creation in in terms of confirmation zero our navigation once you our up hair-care please explain your feelings. i have not read your book so i don't know exactly where even if you have written anything about that so please i am very interested. thank you. >> it is a good question actually a question people often ask anybody of going into space and i think talk about finding god because of their experience what is different is i did not have to find but i was a very spiritual person before going into space and if

anything is strengthened my belief and gave me a feeling of empowerment. the first time i sought earth from space it was very powerful and emotional moment. i was looking at this thing and i know it was not a live itself but allied itself it was full of energy. and full of warmth and i wrote about it it was a very special moment for me and also looking at the millions of the stars that surrounded me and the earth, i know how fast the universe is, but when you are out there looking at the universe the way he will look at it in space, and being outside your home planet, it really

puts things in perspective and you understand how small and insignificant you are in comparison to the entire universe. that also helps to deal with a lot of problems because you think it is nothing. it was very empowering at the same time because here i was the planet some of basic life of my school and my homes and everything i knew about my life was my life and look like the out of body experience. then you feel that our home is not that big hour planned it is not that big. and you feel empowered to do things where you thought i

am just one person how can i make a difference? but looking at this thing in front of me and it seems very manageable if i want to do something so it was an powering that is part of the experience that have stayed with me in that i tried to share with everybody through my talks. >> do you plan to go back it? >> i spent 11 days in space in today's inside of the capsule as a journey to dock on the space station and nine days on the space station. going back? i would hope so i would take

any opportunity but when i came back my husband said the better start another company to pay for the next year her you're not going anywhere. [laughter] >> what inspired you? >> i cannot am i finger on a single thing but i remember it started off that it can get quite warm and is not like here. and had to sleep on the balcony of my grandparents' house in stargazer that is how i would fall asleep and got lost among the stars

gave me the opportunity to think what is out there and are there other beings out there and who made all these things and all of these questions were tied with that in that piqued my curiosity about the stars by eight love the astronomy and piqued my interest in science altogether and stayed with me. finally i felt i will lead find the question now they're in the universe and that is what i have been searching for. any other questions? [inaudible] what do due to her morgan -- promote more

younger ladies to go into space? >> scholarships? >> i do some scholarships if i know it is correctly there's a place called the international space university i have sponsored a few girls to go there for those who are very interested experience where they are exposed to multi disciplinary programs about space and talking about the iranian gross that went there who never had that opportunity to do that. and i give talks at universities to not only to go into space but to go after they want to do without any limitations on what they can achieve

because they are girls. personally i love to see them in space, but the bid is not space in the field of science are technology are engineering and building after what they want. >> we appreciate that you have achieve your goals but i just wonder what makes your goal to go to space and what continue that you always keep your goal to go is travel into space and that you don't forget your goals? >> is started out just a curiosity and a desire to go to space and thus space-bar go i felt it was in a very important part of our life.

the ability to explore space would be the difference and not be able to survive and the more i feel this summer reason to do anything possible to study and learn more about it and to contribute. that was my passion but why didn't i give up on it? it was just a deep seated passion that i felt that i would not be complete without having this experience and accomplishing this task and it was easy to give up on it has actually but i felt why? and if i don't get to accomplish my a dream i think i tried and i would

die knowing that i tried and it did not happen. i have a backup plan and told my husband if i died here have to make sure that my ashes go to space and he promised me that. [laughter] >> >> yes. one thing i have learned that bodies are human bodies and they are very flexible and adaptable and it is amazing because the first few days it is like your body is having a nervous response to what is happening to it. your vestibular system is out of whack so you get motion sickness. the plan would in your body shifts up because your heart is pumping and there is nothing so what sort of

pompous up into your head so that is why you see a lot of the astronauts the first day when they arrive their faces are puffy because of the fluid shift. that puts a lot of pressure so you get a headache and assign this pressure the other thing that happens to you is that your spine stretches actually i gained about 2 inches which i was very happy about. but i lost it when i came back home. [laughter] but because of the poll on your spine you get lower back pain. one of the experiments i was doing was trying to document the pain in my body and what was happening for nasa and european space agency. these are of some of the typical things that happened is the first few-- when your body starts to adapts you feel more comfortable it depends on the individual then you have a long duration to be in

microgravity looking at bone density loss because you're body basically becomes wheezy. you apply to your muscles it is very easy in space because you are in microgravity so your body gets very lazy and you start to lose muscle mass and density that is why all of the astronauts have to do at least two hours of exercise while they are in space to make sure they maintain their body and position it. >> the question is how do people exercise in the space? >> there are specifically equivalent made there is a treadmill and it is awkward. i have a video that i show use only when i go to talks you run on that last treadmill if you are not

attached there it is a harness pulling down the whole time you are trying to run. it is very awkward most of the astronauts do not like it. negative a1 of the astronauts from the space station ran the boston marathon which i admired her for that that is a very difficult task then you have the elastic bands because they are erred use that for mussels training and a stationary bicycle also there are different types of equipment that would make these things make it feel that you are doing weight training. how much should you eat? you have the three males but the form is different because you have dehydrated

food so you have soup that you add water to and canned food and powdered drinks. it is the same types of food but in a different form. >> as the doctor says i am very, very proud of you. >> thank you. >> i have a few questions and may sound personal i'm mixing it with others but you do not have to answer. is there any paradigm shift but when you came back one of the first things he said was i was in space and did not see any got up there. what is your feeling? >> don't answer this one.

actually, i don't know if what he said was truly his believe for it was a political answer for old soviet. but i will give him that. yes, i did not see god but i felt god if you want to put it that way. i am a spiritual person but at the same time i am not part of any organized religion. and 2b common guide takes different forms and means different things to different people and that is perfectly fine brighten think anyone can say this is god and anybody has to worship this god. as long there is a rhyme reason and something that can access altogether, that is what i believed then. i felt that out there every

time my laxer a telescope and every time i read about trying to find out the tiniest of elements and the parallels we can draw between how the cosmos works and how these little tiny particles at the subatomic level works. it just has some anything / looked similar almost exactly the same. to meet all of this cannot be coincidence. it is too much to be coincidence and that is what makes me a believer. >> sponsorship. do you look for students or do they look for you? >> several things. sometimes i run private and competitions to select students. i usually do it through an

organization, our private family foundation. sometimes rebranded competition. we have a competition and iran where a younger was selected and went to antarctica. sometimes i just read about someone and their interest and i feel that maybe i can it help them and reach out to them i do get a lot of requests from students but that does not necessarily mean answer of the request. we are eight family foundation that we do everything fear that foundation. >> i heard several times you mention girls is there any sponsorships for boys? >> some of the competition's i do not specify.

i do something specific for girls because i want to give them may be an upper hand sometimes and just to encourage them because of you look at the statistics it is very disheartening to see young girls that they find it difficult to find good role models and difficult to go laughter something because of the social pressures. people think we live in a western society so it must be girls can do anything but i am here to tell you it is not sell part of it is definitely better than other parts of the world but still in this country girl's face different kind of present -- prejudices'. >> moorpark to your. what happens with a medical emergency? one of the passengers has encephalitis what do you do? >> i think somebody had

appendicitis and i think he had to wait until he was returned on the next trip and it was just a few. we are trained on first-aid type of emergency situations on the first aid level and they do have a defibrillator on board one person had a heart attack on board. they have very preliminary may be minor surgery instruments even up their some of the astronauts get trained extensively on very simple procedures. there is an ultrasound machine a prayer for example, and you can handle certain medical conditions but the biggest part of the qualification to go into

space is the physical house so for extensive checkups when you start to qualify to enter the program than every month go through very aggressive to make sure you're in a good healthy position than once you are close you have a day of the checkups to make sure you are okay that is why you always trade with the back up so they can see your unfit for the trip. >> the sonogram machine someone can use it? >> we trained on it. it can either we related to earth are you can describe what is happening. i was trained on at some of the things not like that differed from later but i did not use it or train on its but usually between three and six people on

board the space station and one extensively trained and everybody else was trained on the others. >> how strenuous was of physical training and also was there any mental preparation anticipating you might think differently when you were there that might go on with your attitudes or emotions while you were in space? >> of physicals trading, a training two hours per day every day and it involves aerobic training and weight training and at the end in russia we love swimming we talk about the swimming in the book i have some interesting stories about swimming. you do that to make sure you

are physically fit and healthy and have a good level of insurance. more than anything else they don't care if you can lift heavyweights because it does not matter up there but endurance is the most important for them and your heart condition so that is what they spend most of their time on progress for as making sure you are emotionally fit third doing things if something happens happens, one instructor is a psychologist so you go through a lot of interviews they make sure you are psychologically fit to go to space and don't get to cabin fever and don't go crazy. one of the test is that the so use is pretty cramped there are three people that sit in the seeds for the first two hours with your

knees to your chest and very tight and then after the first hour then you have room to move to the module that is enough for three people to stand right next to each other so it is pretty cramped space for two days they let you sit in your seat in a position amply when a pressure chamber for a couple of hours to see how you would react if you get very agitated. that it is testing to make sure you're not claustrophobic. the so use is not for you wait until you can apply on something more like the space shuttle. and the psychological tests they run to make sure you don't freak out. [laughter] >> the space station or bert -- or betsy earth every 90 minutes and makes one

poll circles a uc a sunrise and sunset every 90 minutes you cannot tell that instead they basically have the clock on the station of the gm t times a year follow the clock is basically see what time of the day it is a new fall your program. they have a program for everyone on board that is packed with communication with the command center doing experiments, repairs physical checkups on yourself and all sorts of different things that fills every eight astronauts scheduled the entire time they're up there. >> no. you have 45 minutes in 90 minutes you do a full cycle.

>> so maybe before if you have more questions i will answer them that may be let me read a passage to come of my favorite passage from the book. it is on page 185. i am in the soyuz now and we had just entered the or bent so i am still typing away at sea to a few moments later the commander of the russian cosmonaut said it was time to open our risers and loosen our belts and then the american and after not, might go, took off a glove and it floated through the cabin. this made me laugh again. wondered what these two

professionals thought of me than giggling schoolgirls they carried along. and was able to take a look through the tiny four to hold and earth i saw it for the first time. my laughter stopped as tears welled in my eyes. i saw a small crystal floats away from me. it was beautiful. a pretty little diamond. i wonder where it came from if perhaps some workers have lost a stone from her bring. then realized it was one of my tears progress seemed to be attracted to the earth. it touched the glass in the porto and became for just a moment the tiniest of rainbows. i could not catch my breath. my beautiful palette under the warm rain of this and turned gratefully believe me. i was entrenched. that was actually i

something i talk about in the blog the most-- the first woman i saw earth from space and it was a very, very emotional moment for me. any more questions? >> was so is your dream to travel to space is it something you expected or more than that? >> that is a good question i had imagined and german about it every which way you can think of it was better than anything i had expected. i did not know how i would react to being in space but once i was there that felt like it was my home and i felt right at home like that is what i was meant to do all my life. and it was better than anything i ever imagined.

i want to thank you all for coming tonight again and i enjoyed all the questions i especially want to think my eighth fellow countrymen who made a here i get a lot of support from the iranian americans and replace igo if no one else shows up by now i will have the iranians that will come and support me and i have been very fortunate to have a supportive family and friends and actually one of my friends to you will read about occur in the book, we have been together since a very young and iran and you'll see her picture on the buck. i will be available to sign your books. thank you.

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