Coming up fast on the inside in the race to the moon are the Malaysians, turning the whole thing into a Big Brother style reality show:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4244214.stm
Once its 11,000 would-be astronauts have been whittled down to a handful, their details and updates on their progress will be posted on the internet.
Then, the public will be able to make their choice by telephone text message and Malaysia's space bosses will factor the votes into their final decision.
If the contest proves popular and the government charges for the votes, it may even be able to cover the cost of its space programme.
So should I be applying for Malaysian citizenship? Certainly I'm happy to eat their space food. I have yet to find out what their position is on golf - or Bowie.
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