Poland’s only cosmonaut, who circled Earth in 1978, has died

Poland’s solely cosmonaut, Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski, who circled the Earth in a Soviet spacecraft in 1978, has died. He was 81.

The retired air power pilot’s dying on Monday was introduced by way of Twitter by his son-in-law, European Parliament member Ryszard Czarnecki. He later advised Polish media retailers that Hermaszewski died at a hospital in Warsaw of problems from a surgical procedure he had undergone within the morning.

“On behalf of the household, I am confirming the very unhappy information concerning the dying of Gen. Miroslaw Hermaszewski,” Czarnecki tweeted, calling him a “nice pilot, good husband and father, and far beloved grandfather.”

Hermaszewski grew to become a nationwide hero due to his journey to space. For 9 days in June and July of 1978, Hermaszewski and Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk circled the Earth within the Soyuz 30 spaceship that docked on the Salyut 6 orbital space station. They went across the globe 126 instances.

In an 2018 interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Hermaszewski stated his greatest worry through the flight was that their spacecraft could be struck by a meteor. His and Klimuk’s senses had been sharpened, catching even the smallest sound, he stated.

Hermaszewski travelled into space as a part of the Soviet Union’s Intercosmos program, which supplied a chance to discover space for nations throughout the then-Jap Bloc, underneath Moscow’s domination or which had ties with the Soviets.

The primary particular person to blast off as a part of this system was Vladimir Remek of then-Czechoslovakia, in March 1978. Hermaszewski adopted, whereas Sigmund Jahn of then-East Germany was the third to fly that yr. All of them skilled on the Star Metropolis space flight preparation facility outdoors Moscow.

Amongst different nations that contributed cosmonauts had been Hungary, Bulgaria, Cuba, Vietnam, Mongolia, Romania, Syria, Afghanistan and India. France later took half in this system, sending Jean-Loup Chretien in 1982.

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