Franz Artur Viehböck (born 24 August 1960 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) is an Austrian

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

, who became the first Austrian to fly in space. He visited the

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

space station in 1991 aboard Soyuz TM-13, returning aboard Soyuz TM-12 after spending just over a week in space.

Career

Together with Clemens Lothaller, he was selected for the Soviet-Austrian space project '' Austromir 91''. After two years of training he was chosen for the mission, and launched on 2 October 1991 together with the Russian cosmonauts Alexander A. Volkov and the Kazakh

Toktar Aubakirov Toktar Ongarbayuly Aubakirov ( kk, Тоқтар Оңғарбайұлы Әубәкіров (''Toqtar Oñğarbaiūly Äubäkırov''), russian: Токтар Онгарбаевич Аубакиров, born on 27 July 1946) is a retired Kazakh Air ...

Soyuz TM-13 Soyuz TM-13 was the 13th expedition to Mir space station. Lasting from October 1991 to March 1992, the mission included cosmonauts from Austria and the soon-to-be independent region of Kazakhstan, as the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991. ...

from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...

. At the

space station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station i ...

he conducted 15 experiments in the fields of space medicine, physics, and space technology, together with the cosmonauts

Anatoly Artsebarsky Anatoly Pavlovich Artsebarsky ( uk, Анатолій Павлович Арцебарський, russian: Анатолий Павлович Арцебарский; born 9 September 1956) is a former Soviet cosmonaut. He became a cosmonaut in 1985 ...

and

Sergey Krikalev Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (russian: Сергей Константинович Крикалёв, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer, former cosmonaut and former head of the Yuri Ga ...

. Viehböck returned after 7 days and 22 hours with

Soyuz TM-12 Soyuz TM-12 was the 12th expedition to Mir, and included the first Briton in space,The mission report is available here: http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/soyuz-tm12.htm Helen Sharman. Crew Mission highlights The Mir crew welcomed aboa ...

, and landed in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

on 10 October. The following two years he gave numerous lectures on the mission, then went to the United States and worked for Rockwell. When Rockwell was taken over by

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

he became Director for International Business Development in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Later he was assigned ''Technologiebeauftragter'' (technology coordinator) of

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. Viehböck resides in

Berndorf, Lower Austria Berndorf is a town in the district of Baden (district of Austria), Baden in Lower Austria in Austria. Because of its historic development in the 19th century it is also referred to as the Krupp town. Districts The town consists of 4 districts: * ...

. He is married, with his daughter Carina being born during his space mission. Only two other space travellers became parents while on orbit:

Mike Fincke Edward Michael "Mike"/"Spanky" Fincke (born March 14, 1967) is an American astronaut who formerly held the American record for the most time in space (381.6 days). His record was broken by Scott Kelly on October 16, 2015. Mike Fincke was bor ...

and

Randolph Bresnik Randolph James "Komrade" Bresnik (born September 11, 1967) is a retired officer in the United States Marine Corps and an active NASA astronaut. A Marine Aviator by trade, Bresnik was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 19 in May 2004. ...

(

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Notes and references

External links

Franz Viehböck site

Project AUSTROMIR 91 site

Official agreement on the flight
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viehbock, Franz 1960 births Living people Austrian astronauts European amateur radio operators Space program of Austria Mir crew members

Career

See also

Notes and references

External links