American, Russian, And Malaysian 'Tourinaut' En Route To ISS

NASA reports Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and spaceflight participant Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor are in orbit and on their way to the International Space Station. Their Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Wednesday at 0922 EDT and entered orbit less than 10 minutes later.

The crew will dock to the Earth-facing port of the station's Zarya module on Friday, at about 1052 EDT.

The Expedition 15 crew has been busy readying the station as they prepare to greet their replacements and Malaysian guest. Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov set up a work space in the Zvezda service module that will allow the visiting Shukor to perform several experiments over nine days.

Flight Engineer Clay Anderson also resized US spacesuits for Whitson and Malenchenko for an upcoming spacewalk, and the current station crew held space-to-ground teleconferences with their Expedition 16 counterparts to assist with handover activities.

Yurchikhin and Kotov are scheduled to leave the station October 21, officially ending the Expedition 15 increment. Shukor will go home with the two cosmonauts; Anderson will remain onboard with Expedition 16, and return to Earth next month aboard Discovery on its STS-120 mission.

Shukor carries the distinction of being only the ninth Muslim to head into space, and the first from Malaysia. The Associated Press reports Shukor received approval from Muslim clerics for his flight, as his mission coincides with the last days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Shukor will be excused from fasting while in space, and will only need to face the exact location of Mecca for the beginning of his ritual prayers... a somewhat problematic issue, since the orbital position of the ISS constantly changes.

His flight was negotiated with Russia in 2003, as part of an $900 million deal for Malaysia to acquire 18 Russian fighter jets, according to the AP.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html