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Malaysians to Vote on First Astronaut

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the pick-me-pick-me dept.

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."

5 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. "charges for the votes" by decipher_saint · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Charging for votes seems a bit odd to me; if you wanted to be in space you really could just buy your vote.

    --
    crazy dynamite monkey
  2. Seriously... by Comatose51 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "The national space agency has already announced plans for a research programme to send the country's favourite foods into orbit and the selection process to find the Malaysian who will taste them in zero gravity is already well advanced."

    And some people complain that NASA's manned space program was a waste of money!

    "So far, only 200 short listed candidates have managed to run 3.5km (2.2 miles) in under 20 minutes and pass a medical."

    Any reasonably healthy person should be able to do that. I know I risk sounding very arrogant but don't send someone into space just for the sake of doing it. Pick someone with high qaulifications and do something useful. It's really a waste of money and an unnecessary risk otherwise.

    --
    EvilCON - Made Famous by /.
  3. A stroke of genius... by JediLow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "If the contest proves popular and the government charges for the votes, it may even be able to cover the cost of its space programme." How do you fund your space program? Create a competition... its actually a fairly ingenious idea, minus the fact that its laughable of course...

  4. At the very least... by andreyw · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If the Malaysian government is considering this, then Malaysians must have been expressing an interest in a space program for some time now. I can see what would happen if NASA did it - nothing because no one really cares. :-(

    A: "Want to vote for the next cosmonaut?"
    B: "No, Kanye is whining in the mic how the gubbemint hates black people..."

    Weren't we supposed to be already colonizing Mars?

  5. Like the movie Contact... by vistic · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They will pick someone very likeable and intelligent, but then the person will be asked if they are Muslim or not (Malaysia is full of Muslims). The candidate will say it shouldn't matter. And her chances of going into space will be dashed to bits.