Our Angkasawan

A Malaysian , Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor was launched into space Wednesday evening (9.22pm Malaysian time) from the Baikonor Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Together with NASA's commander Peggy Whitsun and Russian Yuri Malechencko. The spacecraft is due to dock with the International Space Station, somewhere in space, on Friday. Our spaceman will be in the ISS for 8 days. His mission is to conduct studies on space effects on cells, microbes and other germy-wermy stuffs. I suspect,previous space explorers might have already done that. The US astronaut Whitsun and Russian cosmonaut Malechencko will take over duties at the station for six months. The station's current commander Russian Fyodor Yuchikhin and Russian Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov will return to Earth with Dr Muszaphar . Now, many Malaysians question why did WE send our man to space for ? It cost us RM90 billion for the project. And the mission handed to him ... so pathetic. Just like a lab assistant. Actually, our angkasawan was just listed as a flight participant (read passenger). The government insisted that he be reclassified as an astronaut/cosmonaut. The government should have realised earlier that we don't have what it takes to be in the space hero category. Don't you remember what our government chaps were fantasising about what our Malaysian spaceman was going to do in space ? Pulling 'teh tarik', tossing 'roti canai' and spinning 'gasing' in zero gravity. Which space agency is going to take us seriously ? Well our angkasawan Dr Muszaphar is out there in space now. I wish him all the best and selamat berpuasa and Selamat Hari Raya. He will be regaled as a Malaysian, Muslim, Malay hero when he gets home. And that's what its all about, really.