Arnaldo Tamayo-Mendez Cuban Pilot Cosmonaut. Born 29 January 1942. First Cuban astronaut. First person of African descent to fly in space. Personal: Male, Married, Two children. Born in Guantanamo, Cuba. Cuban Air Force Graduated from Air Force Academy Cuban Air Force. Pilot, Cuban Air Force. Astronaut Career Astronaut Group: Intercosmos Group - 1978. Inactive Entered space service: 1 March 1978. Left space service: 26 September 1980. Number of Flights: 1.00. Total Time: 7.86 days. Director of the Organization for Civil Defense in Cuba. Tamayo-Mendez Spaceflight Log - 18 September 1980 Flight: Salyut 6 EP-8. Flight Up: Soyuz 38. Flight Back: Soyuz 38. Flight Time: 7.86 days.
Tamayo-Mendez Chronology 1 March 1978 - Intercosmos Cosmonaut Training Group selected.. Training group of potential 'guest cosmonauts' for propaganda flights to the Salyut space station. The 'guests', from states allied to the Soviet Union, would be flown on Soyuz lifeboat changeout missions to the station. 18 September 1980 - Soyuz 38. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: Salyut 6 EP-8, Salyut 6 EO-4. Manned two crew. Docked with Salyut 6. Transported to the Salyut-6 station the seventh international crew under the INTERCOSMOS programme, comprising Y V Romanenko (USSR) and A. Tomaio Mendez (Cuba), to conduct scientific research and experiments. 26 September 1980 - Landing of Soyuz 38. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: Salyut 6 EP-8, Salyut 6 EO-4. Soyuz 38 landed at 15:54 GMT. Bibliography and Further Reading - Becker, Joachim, http://www.spacefacts.de/, "Space Facts Web Site", . Joachim Becker's outstanding collection of facts and photos of astronauts and cosmonauts. Accessed at: http://www.spacefacts.de/.
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