Malaysia's 1st astronaut set for Wednesday liftoff

Last Updated: Monday, October 8, 2007 | 10:46 AM ET

CBC News

A Russian rocket due to take Malaysia's first astronaut and an American who will become the first woman to command the International Space Station was raised into launch position Monday in preparation for a mid-week liftoff.

The 50-metre Soyuz-FG rocket, adorned with a Malaysian flag and coat of arms and carrying a Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft, was moved to the launch pad from the assembly site at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is rented by Russia.

The rocket is scheduled to launch Wednesday, taking Malaysian Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, American Peggy Whitson and Russian Yuri Malenchenko into orbit.

The $25-million agreement for a Malaysian astronaut to fly to space was negotiated in 2003 along with a $900-million deal for Malaysia to buy 18 Russian fighter jets. Shukor, a 35-year-old doctor, was selected from a pool of more than 10,000 candidates to become the first Malaysian in space.

During the 12-day trip, Shukor will study the effects of microgravity and space radiation on cells and microbes, as well as conduct experiments with proteins for a potential HIV vaccine.

In preparation for the voyage, Malaysia held a forum for Islamic scholars in April 2006 to discuss problems Muslim travellers might face, such as pinpointing the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia for their five daily prayers and what to do if the mission coincided with Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

The scholars decided Shukor would be excused from fasting while in space and that he would locate Mecca to the best of his ability at the beginning of the prayer ritual. As well, Malaysian space program officials said Shukor will bring a "symbolic" load of Malaysian food to the space station.

He will return to Earth on Oct. 21 with two Russian members of the current space station crew, while Whitson and Malenchenko will stay on as the station's new crew. They will be joined in October by U.S. astronaut Daniel Tani, arriving with the Discovery shuttle, replacing American Clayton Anderson who has been at the station since June.