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

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 Ru ...

, 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 s ...

. 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 pilot ...

. He graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in 1978. He was selected as part of the eighth Intercosmos 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 ...

. His backup was

Maidarjavyn Ganzorig Maidarjavyn Ganzorig ( mn, Майдаржавын Ганзориг; 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. Biog ...

. 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 (russia ...

, departed from

Baikonur Cosmodrome ''Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy'' rus, Космодром Байконур''Kosmodrom Baykonur'' , image = Baikonur Cosmodrome Soyuz launch pad.jpg , caption = The Baikonur Cosmodrome's "Gagarin's Start" Soyuz ...

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 recei ...

. 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 sphere ...

. 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 ...

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, 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 ind ...

, served as the Defense Minister of Mongolia from 2000 to 2004 and was a member of State Great Khural 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 due to his time in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

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 ...

* Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic (1981) * Order of Sukhbaatar (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 (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 ...

(2001) * Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (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