Aim high, urges space pioneer

LIKE cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who was the first human to travel into space and astronaut Neil Armstrong who was the first man to walk on the moon, angkasawan Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor wants to fuel the imagination of the nation.

Malaysia’s first angkasawan said his mission was not merely to travel into space but to come home and inspire the young generation.

“My mission is also to change the mindset of Malaysians – especially the young. I believe that one day, we can even launch our own rocket into space.

“I have wanted to be an angkasawan since I was 10 years old. Along the way, I have been a model, doctor and restaurant owner. It took me 25 years to fulfil my dreams but I did it.

“Do not be afraid to try new things. Because I believe in myself, I know that no matter which field I am in, I will succeed.

“Nothing is out of reach if you believe in yourself. Write down your dreams on posters and put it up in your room.

“Read it out loud every day and it will inspire you to strive towards success,” he said, adding that it was a fallacy to say that women were less capable than men.

“My Russian Soyuz 15-S mission crew members were Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malechencko and American Peggy Whitson. Peggy is the International Space Station (ISS) commander and she is very capable.

“In fact, I think women are mentally stronger than men,” he said during the closing of the Brain Awareness Week (BAW) 2008 at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Dewan Budaya recently.

He was delivering a talk on ‘Brain in Space: Our New Frontier’.

Sharing his space experience with more than 500 students from all over the country, he said he had always insisted on being called an angkasawan even when undergoing training in Russia.

“In Russia, they are called cosmonauts and in America, they are astronauts. I think as a Malaysian, the correct term is angkasawan. We must be proud of our culture and language.

“It was very difficult for me to learn the Russian language so everywhere I went, I would say ‘Ya La Blu Tibia’ (‘I love you’ in Russian) to everyone. They really appreciated me trying to learn their language,” he said, adding that it was not easy to become an angkasawan.

“I went through so many physical and mental tests. I even had to answer a 1,000-question personality evaluation that included questions like ‘Do you like to sleep with one or two pillows?’

“Everything I said and did was evaluated by a team of psychiatrists to make sure that I was mentally fit for the mission.

“I had always been afraid of heights. I went bungee jumping every now and then to get over my fear,” he said.

Among the questions asked were whether Dr Sheikh Muszaphar played football in space and how space has changed his perception of life.

“Unfortunately, I did not play football in space – I would have loved to though. I did however play the gasing in space and because there was no gravity, it spun for more than a day. I actually got tired of waiting for it to stop,” he said.

He added that the experience in space taught him to look at the “bigger picture”.

“Nowadays, I don’t care what is being said about me. I worry more about trying to make the world a better place,” he said.

Also present was USM vice-chancellor Prof Datuk Dzulkifli Abdul Razak.