Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa ( mn, Жүгдэрдэмидийн Гүррагчаа; russian: Жугдэрдэмидийн Гуррагча, , born 5 December 1947) is a Mongolian

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 ...

and military leader. He was the first

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

n and second Asian to go into space. He also was Mongolia's

Defense Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

from 2000 to 2004.

Early life and spaceflight

Socialist Mongolia Suit of Mongolian Cosmonaut

Born in

Gurvanbulag, Bulgan Gurvanbulag ( mn, Гурванбулаг) is a sum (district) of Bulgan Province in northern Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russi ...

, Gürragchaa studied in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

to become an

aerospace engineer Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

. In 1966, he joined the

Mongolian Air Force The Mongolian Air Force ( mn, Монгол Улсын Зэвсэгт Хүчний Агаарын цэрэг) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Mongolian Armed Forces. History Early years and WWII On 25 May 1925, a Junkers F.13 pilote ...

. He graduated from the

Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy () – is a higher military educational institution for training and retraining of engineers for the Russian Air Force. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the following sp ...

in 1978. He was selected as part of the eighth

Intercosmos Interkosmos (russian: Интеркосмос) was a Soviet space program, designed to help the Soviet Union's allies with crewed and uncrewed space missions. The program was formed in April 1967 in Moscow. All members of the program from USSR ...

program on 1 March 1978, at time he was in the rank of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. His backup was Maidarjavyn Ganzorig. Gürragchaa, along with

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

cosmonaut

Vladimir Dzhanibekov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov (russian: Владимир Александрович Джанибеков, born 13 May 1942) is a former cosmonaut who made five flights. Biography Dzhanibekov was born Vladimir Aleksandrovich Krysin (russian ...

, departed from

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 ...

on 22 March 1981. They docked with

Salyut 6 Salyut 6 (russian: Салют-6; lit. Salute 6), DOS-5, was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth station of the Salyut programme. It was launched on 29 September 1977 by a Proton rocket. Salyut 6 was the first space station to receiv ...

. While in orbit, Dzhanibekov and Gürragchaa carried out experiments on

Earth science Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spheres ...

. After 124

orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

s and 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes in space, Gürragchaa and Dzhanibekov landed 170 km southeast of Dzhezkasgan.

Post-flight career

The

Zaisan Memorial The Zaisan Memorial ( mn, Зайсан) is a memorial in the southern area of the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar in the '' duureg'' (district) of Khan-Uul that honors allied Mongolian and Soviet soldiers killed in World War II. Located on a ...

, a monument south of

dedicated to Russian–Mongolian friendship, includes a mural which depicts amongst its scenes Gürragchaa's 1981 flight. Gürragchaa worked as the chief of staff of air defense for the

Mongolian Armed Forces The Mongolian Armed Forces ( mn, Монгол Улсын Зэвсэгт Хүчин; ''Mongol: ulsyn zevsegt hüchin'') is the collective name for the Mongolian military and the joint forces that comprise it. It is tasked with protecting the inde ...

, served as the Defense Minister of Mongolia from 2000 to 2004 and was a member of

State Great Khural The State Great Khural, ; "State Great Assembly" is the unicameral parliament of Mongolia.Montsame News Agency. ''Mongolia''. 2006, Foreign Service office of Montsame News Agency, , p. 40 It is located in the Government Palace. History ;1 ...

from 2004 to 2008.

Personal life

Gürragchaa is married and has two children. He heads the fund for development of

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two teams wearing ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The international governing body for bandy is ...

in Mongolia. Aside from Mongolian, Gürragchaa is fluent in

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

due to his time in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Awards

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

(30 March 1981) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic The title Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic was the highest distinction in the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR). It was modeled on the Soviet Union's highest award, the Hero of the Soviet Union title. History Soon after the victory of th ...

(1981) *

Order of Sukhbaatar The Order of Sukhbaatar (or Order of Suche Bator) is a state decoration of Mongolia, originally instituted on 16 May 1941. It was awarded to Mongolians and foreigners "for special services to defenses, economic and cultural construction of the Mon ...

(1981) *

Order of Genghis Khan = The Supreme Decoration of the Mongolian State, the Order of Chinggis Khaan = In 2002, the State Great Khural backed the initiative of the second President of Mongolia, N. Bagabandi, and approved the Parliamentary Resolution No. 21 to award the S ...

(2021) *

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky ( ''orden Alexandra Nevskogo'') is an order of merit of the Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious se ...

(2021) * Order of Honour (2011) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (russian: Орден Дружбы, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds a ...

(2001) *

Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (russian: Медаль "За заслуги в освоении космоса") is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established ...

(2011)Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 12 апреля 2011 года № 437 «О награждении медалью «За заслуги в освоении космоса» иностранных граждан»

References

External links

of the Gurragcha panel of the Zaisan Memorial {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurragchaa, Jugderdemidiin 1947 births Living people Mongolian cosmonauts Recipients of the Order of Alexander Nevsky Recipients of the Order of Lenin Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Ministers of Defence of Mongolia Members of the State Great Khural Bandy executives People from Bulgan Province Astronaut-politicians Salyut program cosmonauts