Abdulmohsen Al-Bassam
Abdulmohsen Hamad Al-Bassam is a retired Royal Saudi Air Force officer and a former astronaut. He was the back-up payload specialist for Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on STS-51-G.
Abdulmohsen Hamad Al-Bassam | |
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| Born | December 12, 1948 |
| Nationality | Saudi |
| Occupation(s) | Fighter pilot, Royal Saudi Air Force |
| Space career | |
| Astronaut | |
| Rank | General, Royal Saudi Air Force |
| Selection | April, 1985 |
He was born on December 12, 1948, in Unayzah, Saudi Arabia.
He graduated from King Faisal Air Academy in Riyadh (bachelor of science in Air Science) and was a fighter pilot at the Royal Saudi Air Force. Selected in April 1985, he served as the back-up payload specialist for STS-51-G Discovery (June 17–24, 1985) on which Arabsat-1B was deployed. With the conclusion of this flight, he retired from active duty as a payload specialist. He later served as the Air Force Attache at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in London, United Kingdom.
He is married and has two sons and three daughters.