Toktar Aubakirov
First Kazakh in space; test pilot of over 50 aircraft types.
Toktar Ongarbayuly Aubakirov is a retired Kazakh Air Force officer and former cosmonaut. He became the first person from Kazakhstan to travel to space. He launched on Soyuz TM-13 in 1991.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 27 July 1946
- Birthplace
- Karaganda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
- Occupation
- Test pilot
- Rank
- Major General
- Selection
- 1991 Cosmonaut Group
- Time
- 7d 22h 12 m / 39 ft 4 in
- Mission
- Soyuz TM-13, Soyuz TM-12
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- Between 1976 and 1991 he tested over 50 types of aircraft at the Mikoyan Experimental Design Bureau.
- He was the first in the Soviet Union to make a nonstop flight crossing the North Pole with two in-flight refuelings.
- He was the first in the Soviet Union to take off from the aircraft-carrier Tbilisi on a MiG 29K.
Early life
Aubakirov was born in Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region, Kazakh SSR. After finishing eighth grade, he worked as a metal turner at the Temirtau foundry while attending evening school. In 1965 he entered the Armavir Military Aviation Institute of the Anti-Air Defence Pilots. He served as a fighter pilot on the Far East borders of the USSR until 1975.
Spaceflight experience
In 1991, under an agreement between the USSR and the Kazakh SSR, Aubakirov began training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He launched on 2 October 1991 aboard Soyuz TM-13 with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov and Austrian research cosmonaut Franz Viehböck. The mission lasted over eight days and was the last launched by the Soviet Union.
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