Soyuz Liftoff to Make Double History
The liftoff of the Soyuz-FG rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan later this week is set to make history — twice.
On board will be Malaysia’s first astronaut and an American who will become the first woman to command the international space station.
The AP reports:
The Soyuz-FG rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Central Asian steppe on Wednesday night to take Malaysia’s Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Peggy Whitson of Beaconsfield, Iowa, and Russian Yuri Malenchenko into orbit.
During his 12-day space trip, Shukor is to study of the effects of microgravity and space radiation on cells and microbes, as well as experiments with proteins for a potential HIV vaccine.
The rocket — adorned with a Malaysian flag and coat of arms and carrying a Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft — was moved Monday to the launch pad from its assembly site at the Baikonur cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan.
"It’s too exciting to be cold," said Shankini Dovaisingam, a Malaysian aerospace engineer observing the final preparations. "It’s amazing to see the Malaysian flag on a Soyuz spaceship."
The mission coincides with the last days of Ramadan, the holy month when Muslims fast from dawn until sundown, but Malaysian clerics decreed that Shukor will be excused from fasting while in space.
We wrote about how Shukor will adhere (or be excused) from his religious customs here.
Also be sure to check out the AP slideshow on the left of this page for more photos of the rocket rollout and the security at Baikonur.
