Phạm Tuân

Phạm Tuân (born 14 February 1947) is a retired Vietnamese Air Force pilot and cosmonaut. He became the first Vietnamese person and the first Asian to travel to space, launching on the Soyuz 37 mission in 1980 as part of the Interkosmos program.

Tuân grew up in Kiến Xương, Thái Bình province, in northern Vietnam. He began his military service as an infantry soldier before joining the Vietnam People’s Air Force in 1965, initially training as a radar mechanic. Selected for pilot training, he graduated from the Krasnodar Flight School in the Soviet Union in 1967, flying MiG-17s, then moved on to MiG-21s. He served in the 910th Air Training Regiment from 1968 to 1969, developing night interception tactics against U.S. raids, and later flew with the 923rd and 921st Fighter Regiments.

During Operation Linebacker II in December 1972, then-Major Tuân engaged B-52 bombers multiple times. On the night of 27 December, flying a MiG-21MF, he claimed to have fired two missiles at a B-52D from within 4 kilometers, reporting that the bomber caught fire and crashed near the Hòa Bình–Vĩnh Phúc border. This claim is disputed: U.S. records attribute the loss to a surface-to-air missile. A Vietnamese book by Nguyễn Minh Tâm affirms Tuân’s account, stating he used two K-13 missiles at close range. Tuân later described approaching the bombers at supersonic speed, jettisoning his fuel tank, and launching missiles from about 3 kilometers after closing in to avoid infrared decoys. He noted that the minimum safe launch range was 8 kilometers, but he needed to get closer to ensure a hit.

In 1973, Tuân was named a Hero of the People’s Armed Forces in Vietnam. He later received the Vietnam Labor Hero distinction in 1980. He served as Deputy Commander for Political Affairs in the Air Force from 1989, was promoted to Lieutenant General in 1999, and directed the Vietnam Defence Industry in 2000 before retiring in 2007. His awards include the Order of Ho Chi Minh, the Order of Lenin, and the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

Tuân reached the rank of lieutenant colonel before training as a research cosmonaut in a joint USSR-Vietnamese program. He was initially sent to the Soviet Union to study radar engineering, but a shortage of eligible Vietnamese pilots led him into flight training. He was one of three Vietnamese selected, and on 1 April 1979, he became part of the sixth international Interkosmos crew, with Bùi Thanh Liêm as backup. On 23 July 1980, he launched with Soviet cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko aboard Soyuz 37 to the Salyut 6 space station. Tuân learned he would be the primary pilot only three days before launch. A previous Bulgarian-Soviet mission had been cancelled, and he worried his would be too. During the flight, an engine issue arose; Tuân shut down all systems as ordered, and ground control restored normal operation.

In orbit, Tuân conducted experiments on melting mineral samples in microgravity, grew azolla plants, and photographed Vietnam for mapping. He spent 7 days, 20 hours, and 42 minutes in space, completing 142 orbits, and returned to Earth on 31 July 1980.

Tuân brought items on the flight including pictures of Hồ Chí Minh and Lê Duẩn, Hồ Chí Minh’s will, and Vietnamese flags, which he planned to stamp at the space station and bring back. He has said his friendships with Russian colleagues have continued.