Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor and dental surgeon Kapt Dr Faiz Khaleed have been selected to undergo a 12-month training under Malaysia's first astronaut programme in Russia.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced the successful candidates at Bunga Raya complex at the KL International Airport (KLIA) here today.

They were chosen from 11,000 applicants since the Malaysian National Space Agency (Angkasa) started the screening campaign for the programme in 2003.

Sheikh Muszaphar,34, is attached to Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM), while Kapt Dr Faiz, 26, is with the Malaysian Defence Forces. Both who are bachelors, were selected by the Astronaut Selection Panel headed by former Inspector General of Police Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar.

According to Bernama, both Sheikh Muszaphar and Faiz will leave for the Yuri Gagarin Aerospace Training Centre at Star City in Moscow end of the month.

The professional training which the two finalists of Malaysia's astronaut programme will go through in Russia will qualify them as professional astronauts, allowing them to join a programme organised by the United States or other European nations.

One will be chosen

Only one Malaysian astronaut will be chosen to rocket into space.

The successful candidate is scheduled to leave for the international space station (ISS) on Sept 2 next year to undergo a research and development (R&D) programme, including research on cancer and biotechnology.

Malaysia's first astronaut will board Russia's space launcher Soyuz 2 before it is finally connected to the international space station.

At the station, he will spend six to eight days to carry out research in science and technology for the benefit of the Malaysian space science industry before returning to earth.

On April 27, the two candidates together with two others, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) pilot Mohamed Faiz Kamaluddin, 34, and an engineer, the sole woman candidate, S Vanajah, 35, left for Moscow for training at the Russian Space Agency (RSA).

The four candidates underwent training from the physical, physiological and psychological aspects.

The local astronaut programme came about following the purchase of 18 Sukhoi Su-30MKN jetfighters from Russia worth US$1 billion (about RM3.4 billion) and in reciprocity, the Russian government offered one seat for a Malaysian astronaut to join their astronauts in an expedition to the ISS next year.