05 August 2003 11:25

Russian official confirms Malaysian astronaut to visit space station

Moscow, 5 August: Malaysia's first cosmonaut will participate in a
visiting mission to the International Space Station, Russian aerospace
agency Rosaviakosmos official Sergey Gorbunov told TASS on Tuesday [5
August]. "The question of sending a Malaysian cosmonaut to the ISS on
a Russian Soyuz spacecraft is settled. Malaysia's participation in a
visiting mission to the ISS is an optional component included in the
value of the contract for the supply of Sukhoi-30 fighter-planes to
Malaysia," he said. Gorbunov said representatives from Malaysia's
space agency had visited the space training centre near Moscow
already. Malaysia has not selected its candidate yet. It is still to
be decided what position the Malaysian cosmonaut will have - that of
flight engineer or space researcher. In any case the Malaysian
cosmonaut will have to undergo the standard course of training that
lasts up to twelve months, the Rosaviakosmos official said.
[ITAR-TASS news agency]

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