10th October. At exactly 9.23pm (Malaysian time), the Soyuz-FG rocket launcher blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan…… and in that flight contained our very own Dr. Sheikh Muzhaphar Shukor.
Well, the event has its fair share of controversy but what interests me is this particular one…….What role does Dr. Sheikh play in the flight….. Astronaut, Cosmonaut, Space Participant….Space Tourist?????????
FACT IS, HE IS THE FIRST MALAYSIAN IN SPACE be it as a space participant, space tourist, astronaut, cosmonaut. We cannot deny him that! I however agree that use of the latter two definitions has a ring of pomposity and arrogance to it………. Forgive my ignorance but according to my layman understanding…..don’t astronauts need to have flight knowledge, don’t they need years of training and education, etc? So yeah,.. …you form your own conclusions from there.
But hey, …………….Check out the definitions below. According to Wikijunior Solar System and tooter4kids……..perhaps Dr. Sheikh CAN be termed an ASTRONAUT after all…..(don’t worry – its not only the kids that say so)….. even Macmillan agrees although it is under the grade 3 glossary notwithstanding… 
Definitions of ‘ASTRONAUT’ on the Web:
- a person who travels into space http://activities.macmillanmh.com/science/ca/grade3/glossary/a.html
- A scientist who is trained to travel in a spacecraft. http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/glossary/a.htm
- Person trained for spaceflight. http://www.fi.edu/pieces/schutte/glossary.html
- a person who travels beyond the atmosphere of the Earth. http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikijunior_Solar_System/Glossary
- person who can pilot a spacecraft. http://www.dakotapathways.org/2/glossary.html
- A highly trained person who travels in a spacecraft. http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/astronomydictionary.html
- a space traveler http://www.tooter4kids.com/Space/vocabulary.htm
- a person trained to travel in a spacecraft; “the Russians called their astronauts cosmonauts” http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=astronaut
- An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person who is trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut
- A scientist who is trained to travel in a spacecraft. http://www.spaceforspecies.ca/glossary/a.htm
