On the 37th anniversary of his launch aboard Soyuz 38, I celebrate Arnaldo Tamayo-Mendez, first Cuban in space. So, he was a cosmonaut, not an astronaut but things hadn't been too cozy between Cuba and the U.S.
He was selected to join the Intercosmos program in 1978 and trained for two and a half years with fellow Cuban Jose Lopez Falcon.
On September 18, 1980, Tamayo-Mendez and cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko launched aboard Soyuz 38 and docked with Salyut 6, where they spent a little over a week, conducting scientific experiments. They returned to Earth September 26.
He is the first person to receive the Hero of the Republic of Cuba. Tamayo-Mendez also received the Order of Lenin and named Hero of the Soviet Union
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