Ahmadinejad ready to be first Iranian in space
5 Feb 2013 5:39 AM IST
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that he is ready ‘to be the first man in space’ under Iran's ambitious programme which aims to send a human being into orbit by 2020.
‘Our youth are determined to send a man into space within the next four, five years and I'm sure that will happen,’ he said during a ceremony in Tehran where two new Iranian-made satellites were unveiled, according to ISNA news agency.
‘I'm ready to be the first Iranian to be sacrificed by the scientists of my country and go into space, even though I know there are a lot of candidates,’ Ahmadinejad quipped.
He added to the buoyant atmosphere, saying he was willing to ‘auction (himself) and donate’ the money to the Iran's space programme, which has shrunk because of international economic sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear drive, ISNA reported.
Iran, which last week announced it had successfully sent a small monkey into space, has said it wants to send a man into orbit by 2020. Ahmadinejad on Monday unveiled two small satellites, named ‘Nahid’ and ‘Zohreh’ (‘Venus’ in Farsi and Arabic, respectively).
Nahid, an observation satellite equipped with solar panels, is intended to orbit at an altitude of between 250 and 370 kms. Iran has put three other small satellites into the same orbit since 2009.
‘Our youth are determined to send a man into space within the next four, five years and I'm sure that will happen,’ he said during a ceremony in Tehran where two new Iranian-made satellites were unveiled, according to ISNA news agency.
‘I'm ready to be the first Iranian to be sacrificed by the scientists of my country and go into space, even though I know there are a lot of candidates,’ Ahmadinejad quipped.
He added to the buoyant atmosphere, saying he was willing to ‘auction (himself) and donate’ the money to the Iran's space programme, which has shrunk because of international economic sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear drive, ISNA reported.
Iran, which last week announced it had successfully sent a small monkey into space, has said it wants to send a man into orbit by 2020. Ahmadinejad on Monday unveiled two small satellites, named ‘Nahid’ and ‘Zohreh’ (‘Venus’ in Farsi and Arabic, respectively).
Nahid, an observation satellite equipped with solar panels, is intended to orbit at an altitude of between 250 and 370 kms. Iran has put three other small satellites into the same orbit since 2009.
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