Abdul Ahad Momand

Abdul Ahad Momand (Pashto: عبدالاحد مومند; born 1959) is an Afghan-German and former Afghan Air Force aviator who became the first, and currently only, Afghan citizen to journey to outer space. When he spoke to his mother on the phone from space, Pashto became the fourth language to be officially spoken in space.[5]

Abdul Ahad Momand
عبدالاحد مومند
Born
Abdul Ahad Momand

1959 (age 63–64)
Sardeh Band, Andar, Ghazni, Kingdom of Afghanistan
NationalityAfghan (1959–2003)
German (2003–present, naturalised)
Alma materKabul Polytechnic University
Occupations
Political partyPDPA
Children3
Awards
Space career
Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut
Time in space
8d 20h 26min
Selection1988
MissionsMir EP-3 (Soyuz TM-6/Soyuz TM-5)
Mission insignia
Military career
AllegianceAfghanistan Afghanistan
Service/branch Afghan Air Force
Years of service1978–1992
Rank Colonel

He became one of Soyuz TM-6 crew members and spent nine days aboard the Mir space station in 1988 as an Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut.[6] He holds many records as an Afghan Astronaut. During this mission, Abdul Ahad Momand was the first cosmonaut to speak the Pashto language after he made a telephone call to Afghanistan, making it the fourth language to be officially spoken in space.[5] He became the first Afghan citizen and the fourth Muslim to visit outer space, after Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Muhammed Faris, and Musa Manarov.

Biography

Momand was born sometime in 1959[lower-alpha 1][7] in Sardeh Band, Andar District, within the Ghazni Province of Afghanistan.[8] He belongs to the Momand tribe of the Pashtun ethnic group. After completing his initial schooling, he entered the Kabul Polytechnic University in 1976 at the age of 17, and graduated a year later before being drafted into the military in 1978. He was then sent to the Soviet Union for pilot training. There, he studied at the Krasnodar Higher Air Force School and the Kiev Higher Air Force Engineering School before returning to Afghanistan in 1981, where he rose through the ranks, becoming a chief navigator. He returned to the USSR in 1984 to train at the Gagarin Air Force Academy. Not long after graduating in 1987, he was selected as a cosmonaut candidate for the Intercosmos project. The other cosmonaut candidate sent for training was Mohammad Dawran, a Tajik MiG-21 pilot with the rank of Colonel. While Dawran had more political connections than Momand and held a higher military rank (since Momand was a captain at the time), Dawran's appendicitis was the deciding factor in Momand being chosen for the primary crew. Dawran then became part of the backup crew for Momand's mission.[9] Along with Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Flight Engineer Valery Polyakov, Momand was part of the Soyuz TM-6 three-man crew, which launched at 04:23 GMT 29 August 1988.[10] Momand's inclusion in the mission was a significant symbol during the Soviet–Afghan War.[11]

During his nine days stay on the Mir space station, Momand took photographs of his country, participated in astrophysical, medical and biological experiments. He also spoke to President Mohammed Najibullah, and brewed Afghan tea for the crew.[12] Momand was also recorded reciting the Quran in space at the request of the Afghan Government while his legs were held by another crew member outside of the shot to prevent him from floating away.[13]

Lyakhov and Momand returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-5. The 6 September planned landing of Soyuz TM-5 was delayed because of mechanical complications on the Mir. Radio Moscow reassured listeners that Lyakhov and Momand were fine and in touch with Mission Control. However, their sanitation facilities were on board the jettisoned orbital module and consequently they soiled themselves during the delay. A recording, colloquially called the der’mo tape, was played of them laughing about this. A day later, the retro-fire was successful, and at 00:50 GMT Soyuz TM-5 landed near Dzhezkazgan. During touchdown, there was no live radio coverage, but only live television pictures of Mission Control.[14] Momand was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on the 7th of September, 1988 as well as the Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Order of Lenin.[4]

During his flight to space, his mother was extremely distraught over the safety of her son. President Najibullah called Momand's mother into the President's office and arranged an audio/video conference between Momand and her. By this event, Pashto became the fourth language spoken in space.[10]On his return, he was made deputy minister of civil aviation.[15]

Momand was in India sorting out a complaint regarding Ariana Airlines during the collapse of Najibullah's government in 1992. Momand decided to emigrate to Germany, and applied for asylum there, becoming a German citizen via naturalisation in 2003.[16] He worked in the printing service and is now an accountant residing in Ostfildern near Stuttgart.[16][17] He received the Russian Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" in 2010. He returned to Afghanistan in 2013, at the request of former president Hamid Karzai, for the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his space mission.[15]

Personal life

Ahad is married to Zulfara Ahad and has 2 daughters and a son. Ahad is fluent in 3 languages, Pashto, Russian and German.[18]

See also

Footnotes
  1. Momand's parents, like many Afghans, did not know the exact date he was born and hence indicated his date of birth as the first day of the year.

References
  1. Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 12 апреля 2011 года № 437 «О награждении медалью „За заслуги в освоении космоса“ иностранных граждан» Archived 2012-02-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. Осовик К. "Моманд Абдул Ахад". Герои страны. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  3. Limited, Alamy. "Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lyakhov right and Afghan astronaut Hero of the Soviet Union Abdul Ahad Momand left Stock Photo - Alamy". www.alamy.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  4. (in Russian)Biography at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia
  5. "Pashto report on Abdul Ahad Momand the first Afghan who sent to space". YouTube.
  6. Abdul Ahad Momand – The First Afghan in Space (August 29 to September 6, 1988) Archived 28 October 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 252.
  8. Lesnikov, Vasily (2017). Космическое время "Мира" (in Russian). Litres. p. 97. ISBN 978-5-457-03913-1.
  9. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 252-256.
  10. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 258.
  11. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 263.
  12. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 258-259.
  13. Norton, Jenny (23 March 2014). "Afghanistan's first spaceman returns home (as part of Soviet space program Soyuz - Mir crew)". BBC News. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  14. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 261.
  15. Zurutuza, Karlos (4 August 2021). "When an Afghan traveled to outer space". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  16. Meinhardt, Birk (1–2 April 2010). "Mister Universum". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Munich. p. 3. Er ist der einzige Afghane, der je ins All fliegen durfte. Von dort sah Abdulahad [sic] Momand die Erde und war sehr stolz um sie. Zurück auf dem Boden aber mußte er aus seiner Heimat fliehen – und sich durch die deutsche Welt kämpfen.
  17. Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 264.
  18. Советско-афганский космический полет. Время. Эфир 7 сентября 1988, retrieved 27 July 2023

Bibliography
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