Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez
Cuban - (RFSA)
Retired
Date of Birth: Jan. 29, 1942
Age: 83
Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born January 29, 1942) is a Cuban military officer, legislator, and former cosmonaut and the first person of African heritage in space. As a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first Cuban citizen and the first person from a country in the Western Hemisphere other than the United States to travel into Earth orbit.
Soyuz-U | Soyuz 38
Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS) | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Sept. 18, 1980, 7:11 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:
Soyuz 38 was the 12th mission to visit the Salyut 6 space station and carried the EP-8 crew, which visited the long-duration Soyuz 35 resident crew. The mission began on September 18, 1980, 19:11:03 UTC, launching Commander Yuri Romanenko and Research Cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, the first Cuban cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with the station the next day. During their 7-day stay on the station, EP-8 crew carried out medical and other experiments, including Earth and solar observation, plant and crystal growing. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on September 26, 1980, 15:54:27 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.
Long March 7A
Yaogan 46
201 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of ChinaClassified Earth observation satellite officially reported as for "national resources/hydrology/meteorology surveying & disaster management" purposes.
LVM-3 (GSLV Mk III)
CMS-03 (GSAT-7R)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, IndiaCommunications Satellite for the Indian Navy, replacing GSAT-7 for secure real-time links between Indian warships, submarines, aircraft, and shore-ba…
Falcon 9
Bandwagon 4 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USADedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 11-23
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USAA batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Long March 2
Shenzhou 21
Launch Area 4 (SLS-1 / 921) - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of ChinaTenth crewed flight to the Chinese space station.
