Being an astronaut is not easy at the best of times. However it is a lot harder if you have to pray 80 times a day. This was the dilemma facing Malaysia’s Muslim astronaut candidates until new guidelines were produced, as reported in a much syndicated AFP news item. Actually this story previously surfaced last year (in New Scientist for example) and the new guidelines for Muslims in space were reported in May in The Times. Still, it’s such a good story it stands being told again.

Muslims are traditionally expected to pray five times a day but the ‘day’ on the International Space Station is 16 times shorter than on Earth, meaning they could be expected to pray 80 times in 24 hours. One of two Malay candidates currently in training will ship into space as part of a deal struck with Russia – Malaysia bought 18 jet fighters from Russia and got a free trip into space as part of the deal.

However their religious dilemma has been solved – Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development has produced guidelines on how a Muslim should behave in space. Previous Muslim astronauts have had to work things out on their own. “In difficult conditions, Islam has conveniences to ensure that religious worship can still be performed,” says the department. Praying is only necessary five times a day, following the time at the launch site in Russia. If water is not available astronauts can perform washing rituals by symbolically sweeping holy dust onto the face and hands.

This answers most of the problems New Scientist identified last year when they wrote about this issue, although AFP is strangely silent on the issue of how you should make sure you pray towards Mecca when in space.

Image: NASA