To be able to watch a historic moment in our lifetime is indeed awe-inspiring and humbling. I was virtually glued in front of the television last night to watch the first Malaysian's flight into space. The news can be read here and the historic visual here. The full list of space travel by nationality can be obtained here.
Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor became the first Malaysian astronaut. I am sure this historic achievement is a day to be remembered by all Malaysians. Interestingly enough, while Dr. Sheikh may not be the first Muslim in space, he will be the first to be celebrating Eid there. The honour of the first Muslim in space went to a Saudi prince, Salman al-Saud in 1985.
In any case, I pray that the docking of the Soyuz TMA-11 at the International Space Station scheduled for tomorrow will go smoothly and that our first astronaut will return home safely in about ten days time.
This is certainly one for the history books. Just like Yuri Gagarin is remembered as the first man in space and Neil Armstrong honoured as the first man on the moon, Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar will be remembered as the first Malaysian in space by all Malaysians. Syabas!
10th October 2007 will forever be remembered as one of the most important dates in Malaysian history.
2 comments:
oh yes and also Malaysia would be the first country to go down in history for throwing a tea party in space as Haniff Omar, head of the astronaut program suggested a physics experiment is to see what happens to teh tarik in space! Do we really need to know the end result of such an experiment? *lol*
If I recall, Pinky, that suggestion remains just that. I had a look at the final list of experiments to be conducted at the ISS, and teh tarik is not on that list.
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