Bertalan Farkas (born August 2, 1949) is the first Hungarian cosmonaut, space explorer and

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

. Hungary became the seventh nation to be represented in space by him. Farkas is also the first Esperantist cosmonaut. He is currently the president of Airlines Service and Trade. Following his mission, Hungarian-American Károly Simonyi ( Charles Simonyi) was the second Hungarian astronaut – the only person in the entire world who has been twice in space as a space tourist and who had paid for himself for the spaceflights. The next Hungarian astronaut will travel to the International Space Station by 2025.

Early life and military career

Born in Gyulaháza, he graduated from the György Kilián Aeronautical College in Szolnok in 1969. He then attended the Krasnodar Military Aviation Institute in the Soviet Union, from where he graduated in 1972. After earning his qualifications at university, Farkas joined the Hungarian Air Force and rose to the rank of Brigadier General. He also attended the Bessenyei György Gimnázium in Kisvárda.

Intercosmos program

In 1978 he volunteered to become a cosmonaut and was selected as part of the fifth international programme for Interkosmos. His backup cosmonaut was Béla Magyari. Farkas, along with Soviet cosmonaut

Valery Kubasov Valery Nikolaevich Kubasov (russian: Вале́рий Никола́евич Куба́сов; 7 January 1935 – 19 February 2014) was a Soviet/Russian cosmonaut who flew on two missions in the Soyuz programme as a flight engineer: Soyuz 6 and So ...

, was launched into space on Soyuz 36 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 May 26, 1980, at 18:20 ( UTC). While in orbit, Farkas conducted experiments in materials science. After 7 days, 20 hours and 45 minutes, and having completed 124 orbits, Farkas and Kubasov returned to Earth, landing 140 km southeast of Jezkazgan. Bertalan Farkas was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on June 30, 1980.Biography
at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia

Personal life

Farkas is married to Anikó Farkas, and has four children: Gábor, Aida, Ádám and Bertalan. He loves tennis and plays it often. He was a member of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, a Hungarian conservative political party, and was its candidate at the 2006 parliamentary election in the

Baktalórántháza Baktalórántháza is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population of 3,987 people (2015). History Baktalórántháza has been settled sinc ...

election district. He holds the rank of Commander (CLJ) in the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem in Hungary.

References

External links

Spacefacts biography of Bertalan Farkas

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farkas, Bertalan 1949 births Living people People from Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County Hungarian Esperantists Hungarian astronauts Recipients of the Order of Lenin Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union Hungarian Democratic Forum politicians 20th-century Hungarian people Astronaut-politicians Salyut program cosmonauts