MORE PICS – Malaysian Space traveller Returns -Soyuz TMA-10 with Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin & Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov; Oct 21 07, 1036GMT (6.36pm)

Malaysiakini has the the landing report time stamped at 11.11am when the landing is at 6.43 pm. Obviously, their system clock is out of tuned and the Admin is not aware of it. The landing was off course a bit but right on target and estimated time

Sheikh Muszaphar returns to Earth Oct 21, 07 11:11am; Other Prime story on PPP

BN to study PPP’s quest for more seats Bede Hong | Oct 21, 07 4:17pm and

Kayveas: Don’t kill us off Bede Hong | Oct 21, 07 6:10pm with the

Malaysiakini-tv on Malik & his moment of terror

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Went up with Russian Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft and came back with Soyuz TMA-10
Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson, Soyuz Commander and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko and Malaysian Spaceflight Participant Sheikh Muzaphar Shukor were launched on a Russian Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft on Oct. 10, 2007 at 9:22am ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to begin, what for Whitson and Malenchenko, will be a six-month mission on the International Space Station. Shukor will spend nine days on the space station, returning to Earth Oct. 21 in the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule with the Expedition 15 crew of Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov.

The ballistic decent for the Soyuz was much steeper than had planned and was initiated by the on-board computers. This resulted in the landing site being further away than the projected one (see Map below). One helicopter was within seconds after the touch down of Soyuz. In 16 minutes one crew was extracted out by the search team. All the 3 crew members then left the Soyuz vehicle and all of them were feeling fine

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Oct 21, 2007

Soyuz returns safely to Earth with Russians, M'sia's 1st space

ABOVE: The landing site in Karzarkhstan is further up than the "ballistic Landing Site" mention above and this is due to the steeper decent than planned and BELOW: deployment of the parachutes before hitting the ground

MOSCOW - A SOYUZ craft veered off its designated course Sunday while headed for its landing in the steppes of Kazakhstan but safely brought two Russian cosmonauts and Malaysia's first space traveler back to Earth, officials said. The landing capsule carrying Russians Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov, and Malaysian Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, deviated from its intended landing site after a technical glitch during the descent, Russia's Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said. However, it landed safely at 1036GMT (6.36pm Singapore time) - one minute ahead of schedule - and the crew was unharmed, he said.

ABOVE & BELOW: The Soyuz reentry Capsule. The Malaysian space participant was on the Right Seat and had a hard ‘soft landing’(see below)
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ABOVE: The reentry capsule, red represents the seats and our Malaysian tourist was on the right, with the Commander in the Center and the Flight Engineer on his left

Russian search and rescue teams quickly located the craft, which landed just under 340 kilometres west of the designated landing site near Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, NASA reported on its web site. It said all the three crew members were feeling fine. The spacecraft's descent deviated from the intended path apparently due to a computer glitch, and the crew were subjected to higher than normal gravity load on their descent, Mr Lyndin said. Yurchikhin and Kotov were returning home after a six-month stint at the international space station. Sheikh had been at the orbital outpost since Oct 12. – AP
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Sunday October 21, 2007; MYT 7:20:06 PM

Angkasawan safely back on Earth

MOSCOW: The Soyuz TMA-10 craft landed safely in Kazakhstan at 6.37pm Malaysian time. The Soyuz was carrying Angkasawan Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and Russians - Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov.

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Sunday October 21, 2007

MYT 3:53:51 PM

Soyuz undocks from ISS for return to Earth

ABOVE: Russian Mission Control, BELOW: The images of the returning cosmonauts on screen

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ABOVE: NASA picture of Soyuz TMA- 10, 4.5 mins after undocking as seen from ISS; and BELOW: Moving away from ISS

MOSCOW: The Soyuz TMA-10 craft left its docking port at the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday at 3.14pm (Malaysian time), starting a return trip to Earth with Angkasawan Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and two Russian cosmonauts. The capsule was to bring Dr Muszaphar, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov home in about three hours. Dr Muszaphar had been at the orbital outpost since Oct 12, while the two Russian cosmonauts had been there for six months.

ABOVE & BELOW: Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft 3-1/2 hrs to landing as seen from ISS

The Soyuz briefly fired thrusters to distance itself from the station after leaving its berth on schedule at 3.14pm (Malaysian time), said Valery Lyndin, spokesman for Russian Mission Control outside Moscow. It was scheduled to touch down about 85km north of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan at 6.37pm (Malaysian time), Lyndin said. Weather on the Kazakh steppe was chilly and mostly clear, with some clouds expected to roll in before landing time. Nasa television showed footage from the space station of the Soyuz, creeping along past the curve of the Earth. – AP

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Saturday October 20, 2007 MYT 8:20:46 PM

Angkasawan will have hard ‘soft landing’

By LISA GOH; STAR

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Angkasawan Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor landing on earth is being described as a “soft landing” but he is still going to feel quite a hard jolt upon impact. Retired Nasa astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson said although the term “soft landing” was being used, it was not going to be really soft.

He said a parachute would slow the spacecraft down, and a breaking rocket would fire just before touching the ground, there would still be a jolt when it touched the ground. “It is described as a ‘soft landing’, but it’s a fairly hard ‘soft landing’,” he said in an interview. The spacecraft would be descending at a speed of over 200m per second and parachutes would slow it down to about 20mps, he said. Breaking rockets would slow it down further to 2 to 3mps just before it hits the ground. The Soyuz spacecraft carrying Dr Sheikh Muszaphar will be undocking from the International Space Station at 3.15pm Malaysian time.

At 3.21pm, the Soyuz jets will be fired to begin departure from the ISS, and at about 5.50pm, Soyuz computers will initiate re-entry manoeuvres. At 6.20pm, the spacecraft will break into three modules – orbital, instrumentation, and descent. The crew will be in the descent module. At 6.23pm, the crew will feel the effects of gravity and parachutes will open. They are scheduled to land at 6.30pm in the swampy area of Arkylk in Kazakhstan. Helicopters and amphibious vehicles will pick them up.

“When Dr Sheikh comes back, he will have had an experience of a lifetime. He’s going to say, ‘I want to go again’. “And so we’re going to have to find another trip for him because, believe me, he’s not going to be satisfied with just going just once,” Gibson said.

October 19, 2007 22:32 PM

More pics of these expts coming..

Interesting Experiment By Malaysian Astronaut

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first astronaut, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha today conducted five experiments in microgravity condition at the International Space Station (ISS).

ABOVE & BELOW: the spinning of the Malaysian traditional game gasing (top)

The first was the spinning of the Malaysian traditional game gasing (top), where he attached a string to a 95-gramme top made of aluminium and let it spin in mid-air in horizontal and vertical positions for less than a minute.

ABOVE & BELOW: second experiment, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar pressed a pack containing strawberry juice which came out within seconds in a jelly-like substance floating in mid-air.

In the second experiment, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar pressed a pack containing strawberry juice which came out within seconds in a jelly-like substance floating in mid-air. He later used a spoon to scoop the floating jelly and put it into his mouth.

ABOVE & BELOW: - third experiment involved the mixing of oil and water

The third experiment involved the mixing of oil and water in a square-shaped crystal box with the substances mixing well in microgravity condition. In normal situation oil floats on top of water. In his fourth experiment Dr Sheikh Muszaphar showed the audience on earth how a yo-yo would swing in microgravity condition. Under normal circumstances, a yo-yo goes up and down when in play but in microgravity condition, the yo-yo goes up, down and to the front as well. In his last experiment, he showed the differences in velocity of three alls of different sizes, travelling in microgravity. The balls appeared to have moved in slow motion during the experiment. The video conference about microgravity with the Malaysian astronaut was telecast live by Astro and watched by students brought specially to the National Science Centre here. It was also attended by Deputy Education Minister Datuk Noh Omar and Deputy Science, Technology and Innovations Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha.

During the 10-minute session, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar wore a short-sleeved batik shirt, the Jalur Gemilang hanging proudly in the background. Kong also asked Dr Sheikh Muszaphar what was his biggest challenge at the ISS. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar replied that it was sleeping in the same place like people would do on earth. He said he would sleep in one place and would find himself waking up the next day at a different place. Saying that he was doing well, the Malaysian astronaut also advised the students to study hard and show keen interest in science subjects. Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Noh said the ministry would look into the possibility of introducing new subjects related to microgravity and space science.Dr Sheikh Muszaphar is scheduled to return to Earth on Oct 21 with two Russians astronauts, Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and Flight Engineer Oleg Kotov. The Soyuz TMA-11, which brought Dr Sheikh Muszaphar to the ISS with two other crew members, blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct 10.

= = == BELOW: Dr Sheikh Muszaphar gets to bring back just 7kg of Junk load that includes, among others, six experiment kits.

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Sunday October 21, 2007

Angkasawan winds down experiments

MOSCOW: With one day to his return to earth, Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor has to do a lot of systematic packing of his cargo besides terminating the last three experiments. He gets to bring back just 7kg of load that includes six experiment kits, a kit containing 14 symbolic items, videotapes and camera flash card as well as 200g of his personal items.

But his videotape will be the last to go as his final packing and preparation to board the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft will be videotaped. Yesterday, he completed some documentation as well as motion perception experiment on his knee for the European Space Agency.

One of his activities on the ISS was videotaping his life in space such as how he brushed his teeth, shaved and prayed. “We reminded him to videotape this as Muslims will be keen to see how he conducted his prayers in space,” said head of the scientific team, Prof Dr A. Rahman A. Jamal. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar terminated the protein crystallisation, human umbilical vein endothilial cell (Huvec) and osteoblast experiments between 24 and eight hours to docking. He also had to ensure the cancer and microbe cells were fixated at 4 degrees centigrade to stabilise their gene components. The osteoblast and Huvec were kept at an optimum temperature of 37 degrees.

The experiment kits are labelled as urgent cargo while the kit with the symbolic items is not. Upon landing, the urgent cargo will be transported by National Angkasawan Programme technical committee member Prof Datuk Dr Mazlan Othman. Care and speed are required to preserve their results. The protein crystals will be sent straight to Osaka University for analysis with an ultra-sophisticated microscope while the osteoblast and Huvec will be brought to Russia’s Institute of Bio Medical Problems for analysis before being flown to Malaysia on Oct 27. The cancer and microbe cells will go straight to Malaysian laboratories.

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October 20, 2007 22:47 PM
Scientists Fear Impact Of Soyuz Landing On Science Specimens

From Abdul Rahman Ahmad
MOSCOW, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- A car crash. That is the force of the impact when the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule carrying Malaysian astronaut Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha lands tomorrow, causing concern among scientists on the effect it may have on the specimens of the space experiments. Life Sciences programme coordinator Prof Dr A. Rahman A. Jamal said this was because the specimens of the experiments conducted at the International Space Station (ISS), particularly on protein crystallisation, cannot withstand strong vibration as the crystals can crack and break. "We must ensure that the specimens from the bone cells have to be maintained at 30 degrees Celsius as they are live cells, and the cancer cells and bacteria at four degrees Celsius to ensure that the gene components in the cells remain stable. "

The protein crystals must be maintained at between four and 10 degrees Celsius lest they freeze in extreme cold. To overcome this, the specimens are placed in temperature-controlled containers," he told reporters here today. Prof Rahman said that to protect the specimens from strong vibration, the containers bearing them come with padding to absorb the vibration from the impact of the landing. "According to astronauts, the least impact we can expect is like that of a car crash and we pray that it will not have any effect on the specimens."

Prof Rahman is confident that the specimens would be safe as the containers bearing them would be placed under or behind the astronauts' seat, as advised by the Russian authorities. He praised Dr Sheikh Muszaphar for successfully conducting the experiments with ease although they were complicated, and this had impressed the Russians."The experiments on cancer cells, bone cells, bacteria and protein crystallisation will end at 4am tomorrow. The results of the experiments are much-awaited by the scientist community as conducting research in space is not easy," said Prof Rahman.

Dr Sheikh Muszaphar and Russian cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov are expected to land at 2.37pm (6.37pm Malaysian time) at Arkylk, Kazakhstan, after a journey of three hours and 23 minutes from the time the space capsule undocks from the ISS.Dr Sheikh Muszaphar had blasted into space on Oct 10 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, to become the first Malaysian in space. He had traveled with American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko in the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft. Whitson and Malenchenko will remain in the ISS for six months.

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the Landing on 21st Oct 2007

MORE PICS & Video – Malaysian spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Returns with Crew 15 Expedition in Soyuz TMA-10 – 21st Oct 07, 10:36 GMT; A ballistic descent for the returning Soyuz resulted in a landing about 210 miles west of the nominal landing site.