First Malaysian spaceman awed by view

The first Malaysian in space adapted well to weightlessness and says the view of Earth from the International Space Station is absolutely stunning.

Some 50 to 70 percent of astronauts suffer from space motion sickness during their first 24 to 48 hours in weightlessness.

But Shiekh Muszaphar Shukor, an orthopedic doctor chosen from 11,000 candidates for a round-trip to the station, told reporters in a space-to-ground news briefing that he has not felt sick during his first few days in microgravity.

"You know what? I'm actually quite surprised how I responded to space. I was expecting much worse than this," Shukor said.

"When I first arrived to microgravity in space, I didn't really have the feeling for any vomiting, dizziness or anything like that. So I feel really great. I feel fantastic right now."

Shukor is flying under a $25 million contract between the Malaysian government and the Russian Federal Space Agency. The contract is part of a larger $900 million deal for 18 Russian military jet fighters.

A Muslim flying during the holy month of Ramadan, Shukor was excused from dawn-to-dusk fasting by Malaysian clerics, but he does face Earth, and thus Mecca, during daily prayers.

"The first time I looked out the window and I saw the view of Earth, it was such an amazing feeling. It was so spectacular that my heart stopped beating and my eyes stopped blinking," Shukor said.

"It was such an amazing feeling to see and feel how close I am to God's creation, and I do hope to come back and share all of experiences with all of the people all over the world."

Shukor traveled to the international outpost aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft launched Wednesday from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Onboard with him: the core of the 16th resident crew of the station -- U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

Shukor will carry out a series of science experiments and photograph the Earth during a nine-day at the station. He will return to Earth on Sunday with two departing Expedition 15 crew members -- current outpost commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and flight engineer Oleg Kotov, who have been living and working on the outpost since April.

The third Expedition 15 crew member -- NASA astronaut Clay Anderson -- is scheduled to fly home with the crew of shuttle Discovery around Nov. 6.

Whitson, who served as the first science officer on the station during the fifth expedition to the station in 2002, will take the helm of the outpost on Friday.

Whitson will be the first female outpost commander. U.S. astronaut Pam Melroy, meanwhile, is scheduled to lead a station assembly crew on a mission to deliver the U.S. Harmony module to the outpost later this month.

That flight is set for launch on Oct. 23 and if all goes well, it will be the first time two women have simultaneously commanded space missions.

IMAGE NOTE: Click to enlarge and save the view of the International Space Station taken by the STS-118 crew during their departure from the outpost on Aug. 19.