Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

First Malaysian In SPACE

The 1725th flight of a Soyuz launch vehicle was performed Wednesday, October 10, 2007 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:22 p.m. Baikonur time (3:22 p.m., in Paris).

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a 35-year-old doctor and part-time model, blasted off Wednesday aboard a Russian Soyuz space craft with Russian cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko and NASA's Peggy Whitson.

The project to have a homegrown "angkasawan" was part of a billion-dollar purchase of 18 Sukhoi 30-MKM fighter jets from Russia.

Muszaphar was chosen from thousands of hopefuls in a nationwide competition that generated tremendous excitement in Malaysia, which is celebrating its half-century of independence from British colonial rule.

Muszaphar, who blasted off from the Baikonur launch centre that Russia runs in Kazakhstan, is due to return to earth on October 21.

During his mission, Muszaphar will conduct experiments on behalf of Malaysia's Genome Institute, including tests on cancer cells

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