Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh Mustapha (born 27 July 1972 in Kuala Lumpur) is a Malaysian physician and the first Malaysian to fly in space; in October 2007 he flew under the Angkasawan programme to the International Space Station, where he ran scientific experiments and fasted the last days of Ramadan and celebrated Eid al-Fitr aboard the station. ^{1 2}

His flight was accompanied by the first comprehensive guidebook for performing Islamic rites in space, the 18-page "Guidelines for Performing Islamic Rites (Ibadah) at the International Space Station", drawn up by Malaysia's National Fatwa Council. ¹

Muszaphar was born in Kuala Lumpur to Malay parents of distant Egyptian roots — his father, Sheikh Mustapha bin Abdul Shukor, was a businessman, and his mother is Zuraidah Sheikh Ahmad — and, according to the Malay article, he is the third of five brothers. ^{1 2}

He attended high school at the MARA Junior Science College in Muar, Johor, then earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India, an affiliated college of Manipal University. ^{1 2}

Muszaphar worked as an orthopaedic medical officer: at Hospital Seremban in 1998, at Kuala Lumpur General Hospital in 1999, and on staff at Hospital Selayang from 2000 through 2001, as well as at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and he also worked as a part-time model. ¹

The English article states that he never completed his orthopaedic specialisation, while the Malay article describes him as an orthopaedic surgeon; the museum presents both descriptions attributed to their sources without settling between them. ^{1 2}

The Malaysian Angkasawan programme arose after Russia agreed to transport one Malaysian to the International Space Station as part of Malaysia's purchase of eighteen Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter jets, and 11,275 candidates registered for the programme according to the Malay article. ^{1 2}

Muszaphar was selected with three other finalists at the beginning of 2006; after initial training at Star City in Russia, he and Faiz Khaleed were chosen for an eighteen-month training programme in Russia, at the end of which Muszaphar was chosen as the prime crew member and Faiz Khaleed served as his back-up, the choice being announced in September 2007. ^{1 2}

At a NASA news conference with the Expedition 16 crew on 23 July 2007 he said he hoped to take various live cell cultures to study during his flight. ¹

Muszaphar launched aboard Soyuz TMA-11 on 10 October 2007 with Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson of the Expedition 16 crew to the International Space Station, flying as a guest of the Russian government under the Angkasawan programme. ¹

Aboard the station he performed experiments relating to the characteristics and growth of liver cancer and leukaemia cells, and the crystallisation of various proteins and microbes in space. ¹

He returned aboard Soyuz TMA-10 with Expedition 15 crew members Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov; the spacecraft undocked on 21 October 2007 and its re-entry became a ballistic trajectory — a commission of inquiry determined it was caused by damage to a cable in the spacecraft's control panel — landing west of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, about 340 kilometres from the intended site; his flight lasted 10 days, 20 hours and 14 minutes. ¹

Muszaphar's time in space coincided with the last part of Ramadan, and because he is a Muslim the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia drew up the first comprehensive guidebook for Muslims in space, addressing how to pray in a low-gravity environment, how to locate Mecca from the station, how to determine prayer times, and fasting in an orbit with a day/night cycle every ninety minutes. ¹

The Malay article records a Malaysian Islamic development department (JAKIM) official's statement that fasting while travelling is not obligatory, so Muszaphar was free to fast or not, and that if he fasted, the fast would follow Baikonur local time, where the capsule was launched; the Malay article calls him the first Muslim to fast and to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in space. ²

He celebrated Eid al-Fitr aboard the station and shared satay and cookies with the rest of the crew on 13 October 2007 to mark the end of Ramadan. ¹

This section should be read as a presentation of positions reported by the sources, not as the museum's verdict on them.

His title was debated: flying as a guest of the Russian government, Russian Federal Space Agency and NASA documents referred to him as a spaceflight participant, while the Russian ambassador to Malaysia, Alexander Karchava, stated that he was a "fully-fledged cosmonaut", and the retired NASA astronaut Robert Gibson told the Malaysian Star that he was fully qualified as an astronaut, should be called one, and that he regarded him as a peer; the Malay article notes that NASA never officially recognised him as an astronaut. ^{1 2}

In 2008 Muszaphar was made a Knight Companion of the Order of Loyalty to Negeri Sembilan (DSNS), carrying the title Dato', and the organising committee of the 2008 ASEAN University Games chose an astronaut mascot named "A1 Angkasawan" in honour of his being the first Malaysian sent into space. ¹

According to the Malay article, Muszaphar married Dr Halina Mohd Yunos, an anaesthetist at Hospital Selayang, on 10 October 2010 in Seremban. ²

• The defined sources cited above, registered in data/source/.
• Later translations and edits of this article require periodic review with clear update dates.