ULBS BI

Who does not know a former student of boarding school, Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) Muar, Datuk Dr sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh Mustapha, who achieved great success by becoming the first Malaysian astronaut. Now, let’s get to know more about this sparkling star.

On July 27, 1972, a boy who was later named Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie was born. No One knew that this boy will grow up to be an orthopaedic surgeon. Not only that, he was also the first Malaysian to go into space. Sheikh Muszaphar earned  his degree in Medicine and Surgery from Kasturba Medical College, India and was pursuing his Master of Surgery IN Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia when he joined the Angkasawan Programme in 2005.

After gruelling training and tests, it was down to Sheikh Muszaphar and Faiz Khaleed to be chosen as Malaysia’s Angkasawan under the Angkasawan Spacelight Programme. The Programme started when Rusia agreed to transport one Malaysian to the International Space Station (ISS) when Malaysia bought 18 Russian Sukhoi Su-30MKM fighter jets. After the final medical tests and training examination, on September 17, 2007, Sheikh Muszaphar was annouced as Malaysia’s first Angkasawan while Faiz Khaleed served as back-up.

Sheikh Muszaphar was launched to the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-11 with 16 other crew members on October 10, 2007 and boarded Soyuz TMA-10 for his return to earth. He spent 10 days, 21 hours and 14 minutes in space. This incident is indeed a historical moment for Malaysia.