Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor
ANGKASA Astronaut
Status Active
Born (1972-07-27) 27 July 1972
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Other occupation
 Astronaut Orthopedic Surgeon
Manipal University, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal
Time in space
 10d 21h 14m
Selection 2006 Angkasawan program
Missions Soyuz TMA-11, Soyuz TMA-10
Mission insignia

Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh Mustapha (born 27 July 1972) is a Malaysian orthopaedic surgeon and the first Malaysian commercial astronaut. He was launched to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with the Expedition 16 crew on 10 October 2007.[1][2] Sheikh Muszaphar flew under an agreement with Russia through the Angkasawan program, and returned to Earth on 21 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-10 with the Expedition 15 crew members, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov.[3][4]

Career

Sheikh Muszaphar was born in Kuala Lumpur, the son of Ustaz Muhaidin. He is of Arab and Malay descent. He attended high school at Maktab Rendah Sains MARA in Muar. He then earned a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India.[5] Sheikh Muszaphar is an orthopaedic surgeon[6] at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. [3] In 1998, Sheikh Muszaphar worked at Hospital Seremban, followed by a move to Kuala Lumpur General Hospital in 1999, and was on staff at Hospital Selayang from 2000 through 2001.[5] Sheikh Muszaphar is also a part-time model.[7][8][9]

Angkasawan program

Main article: Angkasawan program

Sheikh Muszaphar and three other finalists were selected at the beginning of 2006 for the Malaysian Angkasawan spaceflight program. The program arose after Russia agreed to transport one Malaysian to the ISS as part of a multi-billion purchase of 18 Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter jets by Malaysia. After completing initial training at Star City in Russia, Sheikh Muszaphar and Faiz Khaleed were selected to undergo an 18-month training program in Russia, at the end of which Sheikh Muszaphar was chosen as the prime crew member, while Faiz Khaleed served as back-up.[10] Following the final medical tests and training examinations, on 17 September, it was announced that Sheikh Muszaphar would be flying on the Soyuz TMA-11 mission.[11]

During a NASA news conference with the Expedition 16 crew on 23 July 2007, and news conferences following his selection, Sheikh Muszaphar said he hoped to be able to take various live cell cultures to study during his flight.[1][12]

Terminology

Flying as a guest of the Russian government,[13] Sheikh Muszaphar's role aboard Soyuz and the ISS is referred to as a spaceflight participant in English-language Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA documents and press briefings.[4][14][15][16]

Speaking to Malaysian media outlets, Alexander Karchava, the Russian ambassador to Malaysia, stated that Sheikh Muszaphar is a "fully-fledged cosmonaut".[17] In an interview with the Malaysian Star newspaper, Robert Gibson, a retired NASA astronaut, shared his opinion that Sheikh Muszaphar is fully qualified as an astronaut, and as such, he should be called one. Gibson also said he regarded Sheikh Muszaphar as a peer.[18]

Spaceflight

Soyuz TMA-11 carrying Whitson, Malenchenko, and Sheikh Muszaphar, successfully launched at 13:22 UTC, Wednesday, 10 October 2007.[19][20][21]

After 11 days in space, Sheikh Muszaphar boarded Soyuz TMA-10 for his return. TMA-10 undocked from the ISS at 07:14 UTC on 21 October, and deorbit occurred at 09:47. During atmospheric re-entry, the spacecraft transitioned to a ballistic reentry, resulting in it landing west of Arkalyk, approximately 340 km (210 mi) northwest of the intended Kazakhstan landing site.[22] The trajectory was reported by the crew as soon as they came out of the communications blackout caused by plasma surrounding the spacecraft. A ballistic trajectory is a backup re-entry mode that takes over if something fails during normal re-entry. A Commission of Inquiry determined that the ballistic re-entry was caused by damage to a cable in the spacecraft's control panel, which connected the control panel with the Soyuz descent equipment.[23] Landing occurred at 10:36 GMT.[24]

Space experiments

Sheikh Muszaphar performed experiments on board the International Space Station relating to the characteristics and growth of liver cancer and leukaemia cells, the crystallisation of various proteins and microbes in space.[25]

The experiments relating to liver cancer, leukaemia cells and microbes will benefit general science and medical research, while the experiments relating to the crystallisation of proteins, lipases in this case, will directly benefit local industries.

Lipase are a type of protein enzymes used in the manufacturing of a diverse range of products from textiles to cosmetics, and the opportunity to grow these in space will mean a possibility for Malaysian scientists to take a crack at an industry worth some USD2.2bil (MYR7.7bil) worldwide by producing these locally.[26]

Spaceflight and religion

Since Sheikh Muszaphar is a Muslim, and as his time in space coincided with the last part of Ramadan, the Islamic National Fatwa Council drew up the first comprehensive guidebook for Muslims in space.[1][3] The 18-page guidebook is titled "Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites (Ibadah) at the International Space Station", and details issues such as how to pray in a low-gravity environment, how to locate Mecca from the ISS, how to determine prayer times, and issues surrounding fasting. The orbit of the ISS results in one day/night cycle every 90 minutes,[1][27] so the issues of fasting during Ramadan are also addressed. Sheikh Muszaphar celebrated Eid ul-Fitr aboard the station, and packed some satay and cookies to hand out to the rest of the crew on 13 October 2007 to mark the end of Ramadan.[28]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Associated Press (20 September 2007). "Malaysian Astronaut Won't Ignore Faith". The Associated Press / USA Today. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  2. ↑ Andrew Hammond (30 September 2007). "Saudi prince says Islam proud of Malaysia spaceman". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 Chris Baldwin (24 September 2007). "First Malaysian in space to observe Ramadan later". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  4. 1 2 NASA (17 July 2007). "NASA Holds Briefing With First Female Station Commander and Crew". NASA. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
  5. 1 2 Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (2007). "Angkasawan lands in UKM". Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Archived from the original on 22 August 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  6. ↑ CNN (2007). "First Malaysian in space to observe Ramadan later". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  7. ↑ {{Cite web|url=http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=52913|title=Part-time model is first choice for astronaut |accessdate=7 October 2007|publisher=Daily Express News|year=2007|author=Daily Express News}}
  8. ↑ SpaceDaily (2007). "Part-time model is Malaysia's first astronaut". SpaceDaily. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  9. ↑ AFP (2007). "Malaysians take last tests before blast off into space". AFP. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  10. ↑ Space Daily (2007). "Malaysia announces first astronaut". Agence France-Presse. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  11. ↑ WIFR – Gray Television Group (2007). "First Malaysian Cosmonaut". WIFR – Gray Television Group. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  12. ↑ BBC News (10 October 2007). "Malaysia astronaut set to launch". BBC News. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  13. ↑ Channel News Asia (2007). "Space fever grips Malaysia as launch nears". Channel News Asia. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  14. ↑ NASA (2007). "NASA TV Coverage Set for Space Station Crew Exchange". NASA. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  15. ↑ MSNBC (2007). "Russian tycoon-explorer may go into space". MSNBC. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  16. ↑ Russian Federal Space Agency (2007). "Biography of Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor in Russian Federal Space Agency Website". Russian Federal Space Agency. Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.
  17. ↑ theStar (2007). "Russian envoy confirms that Malaysian is not a 'mere passenger'". TheStar. Retrieved 4 October 2007.
  18. ↑ theStar (2007). "Malaysian a full-fledged cosmonaut, says ex-astronaut". TheStar. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  19. ↑ Sergi Manstov (2007). "Soyuz TMA-11 launches carrying Expedition 16". NASA Spaceflight.com. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  20. ↑ Jane Ritikos (2007). "First Malaysian in space". Star Publications (Malaysia). Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  21. ↑ Shavkat Rakhmatullayev (10 October 2007). "Russian rocket launches first Malaysian into space". Reuters. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  22. ↑ William Harwood (2007). "Soyuz capsule makes 'ballistic' descent to Earth". CBS News – Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
  23. ↑ "Soyuz TMA-10 ballistic landing cause determined". Retrieved 31 March 2008.
  24. ↑ Associated Press (2007). "Soyuz Craft Lands Safely in Kazakhstan". ABC News. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2007.
  25. ↑ theStar (2007). "Mission in space". TheStar. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  26. ↑ theStar (2007). "Tapping into space research". TheStar. Retrieved 22 September 2007.
  27. ↑ NASA (2004). "Day in the Life". NASA. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
  28. ↑ Reuters (10 October 2007). "Astronaut plans first Eid party in space". Reuters. Retrieved 10 October 2007.

External links

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