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Malaysians to Vote on First Astronaut
wengkius writes "According to BBC, Malaysians will be voting for their candidate of choice in the nationwide search for an astronaut to be sent to the ISS on board the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Once its 11,000 would-be astronauts have been whittled down to a handful, their details and updates on their progress will be posted on the internet. If the contest proves popular and the government charges for the votes, it may even be able to cover the cost of its space program."
Are you fucking kidding me? A 20 minute mile? You are NOT fit. That is very nearly the length of time it should take to WALK a mile. An average, reasonably healthy person should be able to run a mile in under 10 minutes. I'd suspect a majority of 18-25 year old men can run a mile in 8 minutes.
From this page:
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Malaysia Could Be Hot Spot for Space Travel
Malaysia, according to a leading space authority, could be the next new focal point for space travel. Malaysia's central location makes it an attractive option for private commercial space travel companies and those interested in space exploration business, such as the Zero G Corporation and the Florida Space Authority. A 35-member Florida business delegation is scheduled to take a trip to Malaysia near the end of the month in order to look into investment and business possibilities.
Also, from an article titled Malaysia to launch five third-generation satellites:
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Malaysia said it would launch five third-generation satellites from a site in the United States as part of its ambitious plan to become a developed country in 2020 and to meet defence needs.
"We are moving to become an advanced economy and communications is important to meet our economic needs. Now we are relying on other people's satellites. For security needs for instance, can we completely rely on other people's satellites?"
The third-generation satellites offer higher-resolution images. They provide specific and timely data for mapping departments in agricultural countries and geographical information for companies located near the equatorial belt.
"This (the satellites) is for the strategic needs of the country. For our economic and defence needs of our country, we must have our own capacity in space," Jamaluddin added.
So, I guess even if Malaysia doesn't have any launchers themselves yet, they seem to have satellite construction down.
This is a ridiculous waste of public money to send what will effectively be a pretty boy into space on a tourist visa. In line with such great achievements as sending a Proton (our locally manufactured car) to the north pole, where rumor has it, it failed to start because um... it was plenty COLD.
Malaysia definitely needs to spend less on image and more on substance. I can't believe who'd think the population gets a kick out of seeing 'roti canai' (a local snack) floating in space and a bunch of 'hi moms' on the shuttle cam. This smacks of some business guy with a SMS voting engine looking to scam the population out of more cash.
What Malaysia should probably try to do is to make use of its relatively close proximity to the equator to become a launch hub.