Malaysia’s first astronaut, Datuk Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, suggested sending a woman astronaut to the ISS around 2030.
He added the Malaysian National Space Agency’s program will commence selecting in 2025 or 2026.
In 2013, the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) planned to send a second group of astronauts to the ISS to conduct research by 2016.
On October 10, 2007, Sheikh Muszaphar traveled to the ISS with Expedition 16 to study liver cancer, leukemia, and protein and microorganism crystallization in space.
New Straits Times said that liver cancer, leukemia, and microorganism tests will assist science and medicine.
Protein crystallization trials might aid local industry.
Netizens claim it wastes resources.
Netizens thought sending another Malaysian astronaut to orbit would squander money.
They also missed his space station research. They largely recall Sheikh Muszaphar publishing a parenting book and reportedly endorsing odd things following his return to Earth.
A friendlier netizen suggested delaying the initiative till the nation had the money to send humans to space.
Malaysian women nearly became astronauts.
Malaysia almost had a female astronaut.
Vanajah Siva, from Kulim, was one of 18 Angkasawan spaceflight training program finalists.
She reached the final four before Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar was chosen as the Malaysian cosmonaut-researcher for the Russian Soyuz TMA-11 mission on 10 October 2007.
Vanajah was a quality engineer at Teknion Furniture Systems in Klang before joining Angkasawan.
Since Angkasa designed her Teknion timetable, she resigned.
She worked for a Malaysian company throughout those months.
After the Angkasawan program, she refused a RM1,500-a-month entry-level employment.
She was an Alstom Power quality engineer in January 2007. She got admitted to study industrial engineering at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden.
MEASAT awarded her a scholarship with a three-year job.
She was MEASAT’s assistant manager for a year after graduating in August 2009. In December 2010, Chalmers offered her a PhD, which she started in January 2011.
After her PhD in January 2016, she remained unemployed for four months. She got the Trinity College Dublin post-doctoral position after several interviews and travel.
She was hired as a Jonkoping University assistant professor in 2017.
Vanajah was a degree Manager at Jonkoping University’s 3-year Bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Supply Chain Management.
She supervised and analyzed Masters’s theses and taught.
She researched automated manufacturing quality inspection.
She investigated how automation affects social sustainability. She studies how applying AI to detect quality flaws in a production process impacts human workers.
She taught, researched, and managed her department.
In another Malaysiakini interview, Vanajah said she doesn’t settle.