Later this year, a Malaysian astronaut is scheduled to go into space on a Russian spacecraft. Since three of the four candidates for the flight are Muslim, problems arise concerning the practice of Islam in space. How does a Muslim pray five times a day when the orbiting capsule creates a 90 minute day? How does a praying Muslim face Mecca in a spacecraft that is circling the globe at 28,000 miles an hour? Should the astronaut pray while strapped to his seat or should he float weightlessly with his knees bent? How does he perform the cleansing ritual (ablution) before each time of prayer when both he and the water are weightless? Conferences of Muslim scholars have settled some of the problems, but the they continue to disagree on others.
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Malaysia_Conference_Considers_How_To_Practice_Islam_In_Space.html
