Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born 29 January 1942) is a Cuban military officer,

legislator A legislator, or lawmaker, is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people, but they can be appointed, or hereditary. Legislatures may be supra-nat ...

, and former

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 the first person of African heritage in space. In 1980, as a member of the crew of Soyuz 38, he became the first

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n citizen, the first

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

, the first person of African descent, and the first person from a country in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

other than the United States to travel into Earth orbit.

Early life and military service

Tamayo was born on 29 January 1942, in Baracoa, Guantánamo province, into a family of

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans () or Black Cubans are Cubans of full or partial sub-Saharan African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba associated with this community, and the combining of native African a ...

descent. Orphaned as an infant, he was adopted at age 1 by Rafael Tamayo and Esperanza Méndez. He began working at age 13 as a shoeshine and vegetable vendor and later worked as a carpenter's assistant. During the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

he joined the Association of Young Rebels, a group protesting the Batista regime, and later the Revolutionary Work Youth Brigades. After the

, he entered the Technical Institute "Rebel Army", completing a course for aviation technicians in December 1960. Wishing to become a fighter pilot, he went on to join the

Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces The Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces (; FAR) are the military forces of Cuba. They include Cuban Revolutionary Army, Revolutionary Army, Cuban Revolutionary Navy, Revolutionary Navy, Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force, Revolutionary A ...

. Between April 1961 and May 1962, Tamayo completed a course in aerial combat with MiG-15s at the Yeysk Higher Air Force School in the

Soviet Union 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 ...

, after which he was certified a combat pilot at the age of 19. Later that year, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, he flew 20 reconnaissance missions as part of the Playa Girón Brigade of the Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force. In 1967, Tamayo joined the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba (, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26th of July Movement and Popu ...

and spent the next two years serving with Cuban forces in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, returning in 1969 to study at the Maximo Gomez Basic College of the Revolutionary Forces until 1971. In 1975, he was made Chief of Staff of the Santa Clara Aviation Brigade and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel the following year. In 1978 he was selected to join the Intercosmos program and moved to Star City, Russia for his training as a

Intercosmos program

Tamayo was selected as part of the

's seventh Intercosmos program on 1 March 1978. His backup in the Intercosmos program was fellow Cuban José López Falcón. Tamayo would spend the next two and a half years in training for the mission. Tamayo, 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 Yuri Romanenko, was launched into space aboard Soyuz 38 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 18 September 1980, at 19:11 UTC. After docking with Salyut 6, Tamayo and Romanenko conducted

experiment An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

s in an attempt to find what caused space adaptation syndrome (SAS), and perhaps even find a cure, and on the crystallisation of

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

microgravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight, i.e., zero apparent weight. It is also termed zero g-force, or zero-g (named after the g-force) or, incorrectly, zero gravity. Weight is a measurement of the fo ...

, for the benefit of Cuba's sugar industry. The SAS experiment involved wearing special adjustable shoes that placed a load on the arch of the foot for six hours a day. 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 of the Earth (lasting 7 days, 20 hours and 43 minutes), Tamayo and Romanenko landed from Dzhezkazgan. The landing was risky, as it was at night. Upon his return to Earth he was decorated with the Hero of the Republic of Cuba medal, the first person to be so honored. In Moscow he received the Order of Lenin and was also named a

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 ...

Personal life

Following his time in the Intercosmos program, Tamayo was made Director of the Military Patriotic Educational Society known as ''Sociedad de Educación Patriótico-Militar'' "SEPMI". After his promotion to brigadier general, he became Director of International Affairs in the Cuban armed forces. Since 1980, he has been a Deputy in the Cuban National Assembly, representing his home region of Guantánamo Province. He has been honored by the Cuban Government for being the first Cuban, the first Caribbean, and the first Latin American to go into orbit. He was also awarded the title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba and the Order of Playa Girón. He was also a recipient of the

award. Tamayo is married and has two daughters and a son. His space suit is preserved at the Museum of the Revolution in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.List of African-American astronauts * List of Hispanic astronauts

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tamayo Mendez, Arnaldo 1942 births Living people Astronaut-politicians Cuban cosmonauts Cuban military aviators 20th-century Cuban military personnel Foreign Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" Reconnaissance pilots People from Guantánamo