The first female space tourist, alumna Anousheh Ansari, an alumna, will answer students’ questions in the Marvin Center while she is circling the Earth on the International Space Station Friday.

Local-area middle school, high school and GW students will participate in the event Friday in the third floor amphitheater.

Ansari paid a reported $20 million dollars to become the fourth ever space tourist after she took off aboard a Russian Soyuz-TM9 rocket on Sept. 18 to travel to the International Space Station.

Friday’s event is sponsored by the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Amateur Radio on the ISS, which provides radio communication between the Earth and the station. Ansari graduated from GW with a degree in electrical engineering in 1992.

The event, which will include a 10-minute question-and-answer session between Ansari and the students, will also include a presentation by SEAS Dean Timothy Tong.

Area schools participating include two middle schools, a high school in Alexandria, Va., and the School Without Walls, located on GW’s campus. The event begins at 11:30 a.m.