A00168 - Abdul Ahad Momand, First Afghan to Fly in Space

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Colonel Abdul Ahad Momand
عبدالاحد مومند
Born	1959 Sardeh Band, Andar District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan
Died	21 June 2026 (aged 66–67) Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Citizenship	Afghanistan • Germany (since 2003)
Alma mater	Habibia High School Kabul Polytechnic University
Occupations	Fighter Pilot Cosmonaut Accountant
Political party	PDPA
Spouse	Zulfara
Children	3
Awards	Order of Lenin  Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration"[1]  Order of the Sun of Freedom[2]  Order of the Saur Revolution[2]  Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan[2]  Hero of the Soviet Union[3][2]
Space career
Intercosmos Research Cosmonaut
Time in space	8d 20h 26min
Selection	1988
Missions	Mir EP-3 (Soyuz TM-6/Soyuz TM-5)
Mission insignia
Military career
Allegiance	Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Branch	Afghan Air Force
Service years	1978–1992
Rank	Colonel

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Abdul Ahad Mohmand (born January 1?, 1959, Sardah, Afghanistan—died June 21, 2026, Stuttgart, Germany) was an Afghan pilot and cosmonaut, the first Afghan citizen to travel into space.

Mohmand was educated in Afghanistan and later attended the Gagarin Military Air Academy in Monino, U.S.S.R. (now Russia), in 1987. After graduation, Mohmand served in the Afghan air force, eventually reaching the rank of colonel.

In February 1988, Mohmand became a cosmonaut candidate for a flight to the Mir space station. Mohmand was originally the backup to another Afghan cosmonaut, Mohammad Dauran Ghulam Masum, on the Soyuz TM-6 mission, but he replaced Masum on the primary flight crew when the latter was disqualified owing to appendicitis. After completing his cosmonaut training, Mohmand launched into space as a research cosmonaut on August 29, 1988, with two Soviet cosmonauts, commander Vladimir Lyakhov and research doctor Valery Polyakov. At the Mir space station, Mohmand conducted joint research experiments with Lyakhov and Polyakov and made observations of Afghanistan from space. Mohmand and Lyakhov left Mir on September 6 aboard Soyuz TM-5. The initial landing attempt failed owing to sunlight interference that caused confusion in the infrared horizon sensors. Lyakhov ordered the computer to make another retrofire attempt, which was unsuccessful. Mohmand had been trained not to disturb Lyakhov when flying the Soyuz. However, Mohmand noticed that the Soyuz computer was proceeding with the first landing attempt and was one minute away from jettisoning the rocket engine that they would need to return to Earth. Mohmand pointed this out to Lyakhov, who stopped the descent program. The crew spent another 24 hours under difficult and dangerous conditions in the descent module before succeeding in their last-chance deorbit and returning safely to Earth on September 7. Mohmand spent nearly nine days in space and was awarded the Order of Lenin and the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Because it occurred at the height of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Mohmand’s flight to Mir and his status as the first Afghan citizen in space (aboard a Soviet spacecraft) carried significant symbolic importance. After the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan, Mohmand became a political refugee. He eventually settled in Stuttgart, Germany, and became a German citizen.

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Abdul Ahad Momand (Pashto: عبدالاحد مومند; 1959 – 21 June 2026) was an Afghan cosmonaut and aviator. He became the first, and so far the only, Afghan citizen to journey to outer space.^[4] He was one of Soyuz TM-6's crew members and spent nine days aboard the Mir space station in 1988 as an Interkosmos research cosmonaut.^[5]

Momand is a holder of many records as an Afghan cosmonaut. He became the first person to take the Quran to space and recite it there.^[6] When he spoke to his mother on the phone from space, Pashto became the fourth language to be officially^{[clarification needed]} spoken in space.^[7] He became the first Afghan citizen and the fourth Muslim to visit outer space, after Sultan bin Salman Al Saud, Muhammed Faris, and Musa Manarov.

Following the collapse of Mohammad Najibullah's left-wing government, amidst the civil war that followed the Soviet withdrawal, Momand emigrated to Germany in 1992, where he was granted asylum. He subsequently lived in Ostfildern, near Stuttgart, and worked as a printer and as an accountant. He became a German citizen in 2003.

Early years

Momand was born sometime in 1959^[a][8] in Sardeh Band, Andar District, within the Ghazni Province of Afghanistan.^[9] He belonged to the Momand tribe of the Pashtun ethnic group. After completing his education in Habibia High School, he entered the Kabul Polytechnic University in 1976 at the age of 17, and graduated two years later before being drafted into the military in 1978.^[7]

Career

Momand was then sent to the Soviet Union for pilot training. There, he studied at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots and the Kiev Higher Air Force Engineering School before returning to Afghanistan in 1981, where he rose through the ranks, becoming a chief navigator at Bagram Air Base.^[7] He returned to the Soviet Union in 1984 to train at the Gagarin Air Force Academy. Not long after graduating in 1987, he was selected as a cosmonaut candidate for the Interkosmos project. The other cosmonaut candidate sent for training was Mohammad Dawran, an Afghan MiG-21 pilot with the rank of Colonel. While Dawran had more political connections than Momand and held a higher military rank (since Momand was a captain at the time), Dawran's appendicitis was the deciding factor in Momand being chosen for the primary crew. Dawran then became part of the backup crew for Momand's mission.^[10]

Along with Commander Vladimir Lyakhov and Flight Engineer Valery Polyakov, Momand was part of the Soyuz TM-6 three-man crew, which launched at 04:23 GMT 29 August 1988.^[11] Momand's inclusion in the mission was a significant symbol during the Soviet–Afghan War.^[12]

During his nine days stay on the Mir space station in 1988, Momand took photographs of his country and participated in astrophysical, medical, and biological experiments.^[13] He also spoke to then-President Mohammad Najibullah of Afghanistan, and brewed Afghan tea for the crew.^[14] Momand was also recorded reciting the Quran in space at the request of the Afghan Government while his legs were held by another crew member outside of the shot to prevent him from floating away.^[15]

Lyakhov and Momand returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-5. The 6 September planned landing of Soyuz TM-5 was delayed because of mechanical complications on the Mir. Radio Moscow reassured listeners that Lyakhov and Momand were fine and in touch with Mission Control. However, their sanitation facilities were on board the jettisoned orbital module and consequently they soiled themselves during the delay. A recording, colloquially called the der’mo tape, was played of them laughing about this. A day later, the retro-fire was successful, and at 00:50 GMT Soyuz TM-5 landed near Dzhezkazgan. During touchdown, there was no live radio coverage, but only live television pictures of Mission Control.^[16]

As Momand returned to Afghanistan, he was greeted by a large crowd that threw flowers at him, as the Mujahideen fired a barrage of rockets towards the city of Kabul. The city was the site of 25 separate rocket attacks in a single day, resulting in 35 dead and 165 injured.^[17]

Momand was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on 7 September 1988 as well as the Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Order of Lenin.^[2]

During his flight to space, his mother was extremely distraught over the safety of her son. President Najibullah called Momand's mother into the President's office and arranged an audio/video conference between Momand and her. By this event, Pashto became the fourth language spoken in space.^[11][7] On his return, he was made deputy minister of civil aviation.^[18]

Momand was in India sorting out a complaint regarding Ariana Airlines during the collapse of Najibullah's government in 1992. Momand decided to emigrate to Germany, and applied for asylum there, becoming a German citizen by naturalisation in 2003.^[19] He worked in the printing service and subsequently became an accountant residing in Ostfildern near Stuttgart.^[19][20] He received the Russian Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" in 2010. He returned to Afghanistan in 2013, at the request of then-President Hamid Karzai, for the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his space mission^[18] as shown in the BBC Persian documentary “Kabul to the Galaxy” (Persian: کابل تا کهکشان, Kābul tā Kahkešān).^[21]

Personal life and death

Momand was married to Zulfara and had two daughters and a son.^[15] He was fluent in four languages: Pashto, Persian, Russian and German.^[22]

Momand died of cancer in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on 21 June 2026.^[23][24]

See also

• Afghans in Germany
• Timeline of astronauts by nationality
• List of Muslim astronauts

Footnotes

1.  Momand's parents, like many Afghans, did not know the exact date he was born and hence indicated his date of birth as the first day of the year.

References

1.  Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 12 апреля 2011 года № 437 «О награждении медалью „За заслуги в освоении космоса“ иностранных граждан» Archived 2012-02-10 at the Wayback Machine.
2.  "Моманд Абдул Ахад" (in Russian). Hero of the Soviet Union. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
3.  "Twice Hero of the Soviet Union Vladimir Lyakhov right and Afghan astronaut Hero of the Soviet Union Abdul Ahad Momand left Stock Photo - Alamy". www.alamy.com. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
4.  "Afghanistan Needs the BSA: Momand". TOLOnews. 7 December 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
5.  "afghan-network.net". www.afghan-network.net. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
6.  "Afghan Astronaut Who Took Copies of Quran to Space". International Quran News Agency. 9 October 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
7.  "فضا ته د بشر د سفر نړیواله ورځ: 'پښتو څلورمه ژبه ده چې فضا کې ویل شوې'". BBC Pashto. 12 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
8.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 252.
9.  Lesnikov, Vasily (2017). Космическое время "Мира" (in Russian). Litres. p. 97. ISBN 978-5-457-03913-1.
10.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 252-256.
11.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 258.
12.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 263.
13.  Sandomir, Richard (29 June 2026). "Abdul Ahad Momand, Only Afghan to Fly in Space, Is Dead". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
14.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 258-259.
15.  Norton, Jenny (23 March 2014). "Afghanistan's first spaceman returns home". BBC News. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
16.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 261.
17.  "Afghanistan's first spaceman returns home". BBC News. 23 March 2014. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
18.  Zurutuza, Karlos (4 August 2021). "When an Afghan traveled to outer space". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
19.  Meinhardt, Birk (1–2 April 2010). "Mister Universum". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Munich. p. 3. Er ist der einzige Afghane, der je ins All fliegen durfte. Von dort sah Abdulahad [sic] Momand die Erde und war sehr stolz um sie. Zurück auf dem Boden aber mußte er aus seiner Heimat fliehen – und sich durch die deutsche Welt kämpfen.
20.  Burgess & Vis 2015, p. 264.
21.  مستند از کابل تا کهکشان. Retrieved 6 May 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
22.  Советско-афганский космический полет. Время. Эфир 7 сентября 1988, 6 September 2021, retrieved 27 July 2023
23.  "عبدالاحد مومند، نخستین فضانورد افغان در آلمان درگذشت". Amu TV (in Persian). 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
24.  قدوسی, ستاره (21 June 2026). "عبدالاحد مومند، نخستین فضانورد کشور در آلمان درگذشت". تلویزیون آمو (in Persian). Retrieved 21 June 2026.

Bibliography

• Burgess, Colin; Vis, Bert (2015). Interkosmos: The Eastern Bloc's Early Space Program. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-24163-0.

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Abdul Ahad Momand, Only Afghan to Fly in Space, Is Dead

A pilot in the Afghan Air Force, he was recruited for the Soviet space program. His 1988 flight took place as the Soviets were fighting a war in his country.

Listen · 7:03 min

Abdul Ahad Momand in an undated photo. From space, he pleaded for peace in his homeland, telling President Mohammed Najibullah of Afghanistan, “Let’s solve our problems through dialogue.”Credit...Tass, via Space Facts

By Richard Sandomir

June 29, 2026

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Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan’s only cosmonaut, who flew on a Soviet mission to the Mir space station during the waning days of the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan, died on June 21 in Germany. He is believed to have been born in 1959, though the exact date is uncertain.

His family said on social media that the cause was cancer, but did not provide any other details. He had lived in Stuttgart, Germany, since 1992.

Captain Momand’s spaceflight “inscribed the name of Afghanistan in the realm of global space exploration,” his family wrote on Instagram, “and became a source of pride and inspiration for generations of his fellow countrymen.”

A pilot in the Afghan Air Force, Captain Momand blasted off from Kazakhstan on Aug. 29, 1988, with two other cosmonauts, Col. Vladimir Lyakhov, the commander, and Valeri Polyakov, a doctor, aboard a Soyuz TM-6 spacecraft.

The flight was part of Intercosmos, a Soviet program that sent the country’s cosmonauts into space alongside those from allied nations — including Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Vietnam and Afghanistan — as well as astronauts from Britain, France and Japan.

During the voyage, Captain Momand worked on various experiments and used sophisticated cameras to photograph Afghanistan from space to determine which regions were arable or rich with minerals.

His mission also involved an effort “to accurately map the country,” Asif Siddiqi, a history professor at Fordham University who has written about the Soviet space program, said in an interview. “Momand talked about growing up without accurate maps of his country and how this spaceflight might help get them.”

In 2017, Captain Momand told Sputnik, a Russian state-owned news agency, “The view of Earth from Mir’s porthole brought me enjoyment incomparable to any other.”

With his country at war with the Soviet Union, Captain Momand made a plea for peace during a phone call from space with President Mohammed Najibullah of Afghanistan. “Take your neighbor by the hand, lay down your arms,” he said. “Let’s solve our problems through dialogue.”

Captain Momand said on state-run Soviet TV that from space, the violence in his homeland was invisible. “I would like to believe,” he said, “that such will be the situation on the land inhabited by my brothers and sisters, on the land of our fathers and mothers who have suffered so much during the years of war.”

At the Afghan government’s request, he also read a prayer from the Quran, the holy book of Islam, broadcast on Soviet TV. “Ahad put on a skullcap to do it,” Colonel Lyakhov told the BBC in 2014. “He was being filmed from below, and I was just out of the shot, hanging on to his legs to stop him floating off.”

Abdul Ahad Momand was born in Sardeh Band, a town in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province. As a boy, he dreamed about the possibilities of flight.

“Sometimes,” he told the BBC, “planes would appear overhead and I would think how great it would be if I could fly.”

Eventually, he got the chance. After graduating from Kabul Polytechnic University, he was drafted into the Afghan Air Force in 1978 and trained at two military academies, including the Gagarin Air Force Academy near Moscow. By the time he joined Intercosmos, he had risen to become the chief navigator at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. After an Afghan colleague got appendicitis, Captain Momand took his place on the 1988 mission.

Image

Captain Momand on the Mir space station in 1988. At the Afghan government’s request, he put on a skullcap and read a prayer from the Quran, the holy book of Islam.Credit...Roscosmos, via collectspace.com

The mission was originally supposed to take place the next year, Dr. Siddiqi said, but “the whole idea of launching an Afghan into space was entangled with the Soviet invasion and the war in Afghanistan. The Soviets wanted to get Momand off the ground before they withdrew, which meant bringing the mission forward by about a year.”

By the time Captain Momand and his crewmates flew to the Mir, Soviet troops had already begun to withdraw.

The voyage out went smoothly, but the return flight was a near disaster. Captain Momand and Colonel Lyakhov had to abort their first attempt at re-entry when rays from the sun caused the malfunction of an infrared sensor in the guidance system. (Dr. Polyakov had remained on the space station.) A second attempt failed when the engine fired for six seconds rather than the necessary four minutes.

The failures forced the cosmonauts to orbit Earth for another 25 hours, with limited oxygen and food. They finally landed on Sept. 7, although the onboard computer had begun the same re-entry sequence that had failed after the remote sensor malfunctioned.