"The year 2007 will be a good one as the global community will be celebrating 50 years since the launch of the first artificial satellite into the Earth's orbit," Ms Otman pointed out during the talks. Then October will be the most suitable month, Mr. Perminov added, praising his Malaysian counterpart for being so knowledgeable as far as the history of space exploration goes. It will be remembered that the first sputnik was launched into orbit by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.
According to the Russian Space Agency chief, it will be up to Malaysia's space authorities to decide on the timeframe for their first astronaut's mission.
At today's talks, the sides agreed that two Malay astronauts-one for a main crew and the other for a standby crew-would be training for their space mission in Zvyozdny Gorodok (Stellar Town), outside Moscow. The training sessions have been tentatively set for the end of the summer 2005.
Perminov promised to Otman that Russia would agree a Malay astronaut's mission with all its ISS partners. "As a rule, judging from prior experience, it takes us no more than a year to agree on all relevant issues with all the ISS partners. This is the same amount of time the Malay astronaut's training will last," he said.
The head of Malaysia's Space Agency told the media that the first national astronaut would be picked out on the basis of an online contest.
"We have invited each resident of Malaysia to file an entry via the Internet. We've got 3,700 candidates at the moment. We have so far identified only some general criteria for selection-the successful candidate will be at least 21 years of age, in good health and with good eyesight."
Replying to a question from RIA Novosti, the Russian Space Agency chief said he was satisfied with the results of today's talks with his Malay opposite number. "Malaysia is a powerful country possessing all modern types of weaponry, except for nuclear, so it won't do without a nuclear program. We have accepted with pleasure Malaysia's request for taking its first national astronaut to outer space and for out part, we will do everything possible to meet the request," Perminov said.
Malaysia may send four of its selected astronauts into Russia for training. "Our experience shows that four astronauts is the optimal number for selection," Perminov said.
