Party of Five

I picked this article from The Star Online . Hopefully it can clear up few issues surrounding this program. "...Dr Zukeffeli [National Angkasawan Programme director] said if the country's second mission materialises in 2010 or 2011 in which backup cosmonaut Dr Faiz Khaleed is slated to go, Malaysia hoped to conduct more experiments. " The first mission was funded by the Russians ; hence we had limitations in cargo load that affected the number of experiments we could do. "As we will be paying for the second one, we will have more purchasing power," he said, adding that the angkasawan would have longer training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. "We hope, in the second mission, our cosmonaut can be a mission specialist and participate in the expansion of the ISS (International Space Station)," he said...."

Kelana asked me to write something about this historical event since I was there at KLCC (not Baikonur Cosmodrome eh) during the launching ceremony. I was there to learn and watch how the event was carried out. Although I was there as an observer, I've ditched the 'title' soon after the PM arrived and joined the crowd as guest...eheheheh. I sat in the middle of students' table. So, it's quite happening hearing them cheering when the Soyuz lift off the earth. My feeling...well it's a mixture of excitement and anxiousness. The unfortunate event of Challenger explosion years ago clouded my mind. I think whoever still remember the event, would probably have thought the same. The crowd was cheering loud and deafening when the space shuttle left earth ground. I don't think that was a wise idea. Yes, we can cheer but keep it to a minimum. We should say our prayer and hope that everything will be okay. And thank Allah that everything went okay that night. When ...