Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa (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 List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and military leader. He was the first

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

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

Defense Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

from 2000 to 2004.

Early life and spaceflight

Socialist Mongolia Suit of Mongolian Cosmonaut

Born in

Gurvanbulag, Bulgan Gurvanbulag () is a sum (district) of Bulgan Province in northern Mongolia. In 2009, its population was 3,119. Geography The district has a total area of 2,686 km2. Administrative divisions The district is divided into six bags A bag, also ...

, Gürragchaa studied in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

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 s ...

. In 1966, he joined the

Mongolian Air Force The Mongolian Air Force () is the air force service branch of the Mongolian Armed Forces . History Early years and WWII On 25 May 1925, a Junkers F.13 piloted by Lieutenant Colonel D. Shatarragchaa entered service as the first aircraft in Mo ...

. 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 Aerospace Forces. The academy trains specialists – engineers, research engineers in the fol ...

in 1978. He was selected as part of the eighth

Intercosmos Interkosmos () 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 were given the Hero of the Sov ...

program on 1 March 1978, at time he was in the rank of Major General. His backup was

Maidarjavyn Ganzorig Maidarjavyn Ganzorig (; 5 February 1949 – 4 July 2021) was a Mongolian cosmonaut and academic. In 1978, he participated in the Soviet Intercosmos program and trained for the Soyuz 39 mission. Biography Ganzorig was born in Tsetserleg, Arkha ...

. Gürragchaa, along with

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

cosmonaut

Vladimir Dzhanibekov Vladimir Aleksandrovich Dzhanibekov (, born 13 May 1942) is a retired Soviet Air Force Major General and a cosmonaut veteran of five orbital missions. Biography Dzhanibekov was born Vladimir Aleksandrovich Krysin () in the remote area of Iskand ...

, departed from

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a spaceport operated by Russia within Kazakhstan. Located in the Kazakh city of Baikonur, it is the largest operational space launch facility in terms of area. All Russian Human spaceflight, crewed spaceflights are l ...

on 22 March 1981. They docked with

Salyut 6 Salyut 6 () was a Soviet orbital space station, the eighth station of the Salyut programme, and alternatively known DOS-5 as it was the fifth of the Durable Orbital Station series of civilian space stations. It was launched on 29 September 19 ...

. 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 (also known as orbital revolution) 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 ...

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 () is a memorial in Khan Uul, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia that honors allied Mongolian and Soviet Union, Soviet soldiers killed in World War II. Located on a hill in the southern part of the city, the memorial features a Cyclora ...

, 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 () is the collective name for the Mongolian military and the joint forces that comprise it. It is tasked with protecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Mongolia. Defined as the peacetime co ...

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

State Great Khural The State Great Khural is the unicameral parliament of Mongolia,Montsame News Agency. ''Mongolia''. 2006, Foreign Service office of Montsame News Agency, , p. 40 located in the Government Palace in the capital Ulaanbaatar. History 191 ...

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 team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, 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 playin ...

in Mongolia. Aside from

Mongolian Mongolian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Mongolia, a country in Asia * Mongolian people, or Mongols * Bogd Khanate of Mongolia, the government of Mongolia, 1911–1919 and 1921–1924 * Mongolian language * Mongolian alphabet * ...

, Gürragchaa is fluent in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

due to his time in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Awards

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

(30 March 1981) *

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

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 (2021) *

Order of Alexander Nevsky The Order of Alexander Nevsky () is an Order (distinction), order of merit of the Russia, Russian Federation named in honour of saint Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) and bestowed to civil servants for twenty years or more of highly meritorious ser ...

(2021) * Order of Honour (2011) *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') 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 and efforts have been aimed at ...

(2001) *

Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" The Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" () is a state decoration of the Russian Federation aimed at recognising achievements in the space program. It was established by Decree of the President of Russia, presidential decree №1099 of September ...

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

Notes

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