Next Space Station Crew Is Full of Surprises

The next space station crew which is ready to embark on the journey aboard the Russian Soyuz space is full of surprises, being not only one of the most nationally and ethnically diverse, but it also features some world premieres.

The first would be the fact that NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson will be the first female commander of a space mission, as she will take over the position once aboard the ISS. She will replace current commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, who will return to Earth together with Oleg Koton, the other Russian astronaut on the station, aboard the same Soyuz spacecraft, after a few days handing operations over to the new crew members.

The second premiere is the first Malaysian to fly into space, in the person of Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, in a flight aimed "to inspire his country to greater things." He's a 34-year-old physician that was selected from among 11,000 candidates in what he described as "a very tiring process."

His ticket was bought by the Malaysian government in exchange for a $1 billion purchase of Russian fighter jets. However, unlike other space tourists, that paid the trip from their own pocket, Shukor got a sort a scholarship from his government to conduct experiments and capture the attention of his fellow Malaysians in the process.

Since in Malaysia Islam is the official religion, he will have to follow the exact same rules in space. According to Malaysia's National Space Agency chief Mazlan Othman, the government prepared a booklet with rules and guidelines to be followed during the scientific mission organized by the Russians on the International Space Station.

"Being the first Malaysian angkasawan [astronaut] has been a big responsibility on my shoulders," Shukor said. "Hopefully the space program, it will change the entire nation to look forward to become a better developed nation."

The third and last premiere is the presence of the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, who became the first human to be married while in orbit, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles over New Zealand, on the International Space Station.

The mission, known as Expedition 16, is scheduled to launch on October 2, 2007 and until then, they are making the last preparation and training exercises.