As further evidence that Anousheh Ansari will be taking the place of rejected Japanese space tourist Daisuke Enomoto on next month’s Soyuz flight comes this report from AFP about modifications being made to the Soyuz spacecraft to accommodate Ansari. And why are those changes being made? “A woman’s organism is different, that’s why we need to modify some of the life systems in the capsule,” said Nikolai Sevastyanov, head of RSC Energia. Yes, indeed, her “organism” is different…

Wired News has a brief article about Space Adventures’ plans to open a Chinese office, an effort to court the growing number of wealthy Chinese who may be interested in flying in space. While the effort appears to be initially focused on flight opportunities outside China, both orbital and suborbital, Space Adventures also sees a future where Chinese vehicles become available for space tourism. “We plan to initiate and develop a relationship with the China National Space Administration,” Eric Anderson told Wired News. However, he adds that “Space Adventures will consider the Chinese Shenzhou vehicle once it has proven its reliability.” Given the low flight rate of the Shenzhou (less than once every two years), it might be a long time before Shenzhou’s reliability is sufficiently demonstrated.