Jugderdemidiin Gurracha
Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa born December 5, 1947, was the first Mongolian and the second Asian in space. Born in Gurvanbulag, Mongolia, Gürragchaa studied in Ulaanbaatar to become an aerospace engineer. He then joined the air force, rising to the rank of Major General. He was selected as part of the eighth Intercosmos program on March 1, 1978. His backup was Maidarzhavyn Ganzorig. After Mongolia removed the Communist-era ban on clan names in 1997, and unable to identify his original clan heritage, Gürragchaa chose the clan name Sansar – Mongolian for \"cosmos\". Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on March 30, 1981. He was Mongolia\'s defense minister from 2000 to 2004.
Spaceflights
No. Mission Position Time Duration
1 Soyuz 39 Research Cosmonaut 22.03. - 30.03.1981 7d 20h 42m
