Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa

Mongolian cosmonaut and defense minister (born 1947)

Жүгдэрдэмидийн Гүррагчаа

Gürragchaa in 2011

Minister of Defence of MongoliaIn office
2000–2004PresidentNatsagiin BagabandiPrime MinisterNambaryn EnkhbayarMember of State Great KhuralIn office
2004–2008PresidentNatsagiin Bagabandi
Nambaryn EnkhbayarPrime MinisterTsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
Miyeegombiin Enkhbold
Sanjaagiin Bayar Personal detailsBorn (1947-12-15) December 15, 1947 (age 76)
Gurvanbulag, Bulgan, MongoliaAlma materZhukov Air Force AcademyProfessionAerospace Engineer/Flight engineerAwards

Military serviceAllegiance

MongoliaBranch/service

Mongolian People's ArmyYears of service1966–?Rank

Major GeneralNationalityMongolianSpace careerIntercosmos Cosmonaut

Time in space

7d 20h 42mSelection1978 Intercosmos GroupMissionsSoyuz 39

Mission insignia

Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa (Mongolian: Жүгдэрдэмидийн Гүррагчаа; Russian: Жугдэрдэмидийн Гуррагча, [ˈʐuɡdʲɪrdʲɪmʲɪdʲɪjn ˈɡurəktɕə], born 5 December 1947) is a Mongolian cosmonaut and military leader. He was the first Mongolian and second Asian to go into space.^[1]^[2] He also was Mongolia's Defense Minister from 2000 to 2004.^[3]

Early life and spaceflight

Born in Gurvanbulag, Bulgan, Gürragchaa studied in Ulaanbaatar to become an aerospace engineer. In 1966, he joined the Mongolian Air Force. He graduated from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in 1978.

He was selected as part of the eighth Intercosmos program on 1 March 1978, at time he was in the rank of Major General. His backup was Maidarjavyn Ganzorig. Gürragchaa, along with Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov, departed from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 22 March 1981. They docked with Salyut 6.^[4]^[5]

While in orbit, Dzhanibekov and Gürragchaa carried out experiments on Earth science. After 124 orbits and 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes in space, Gürragchaa and Dzhanibekov landed 170 km southeast of Dzhezkasgan.

Post-flight career

The Zaisan Memorial, a monument south of Ulaanbaatar dedicated to Russian–Mongolian friendship, includes a mural which depicts amongst its scenes Gürragchaa's 1981 flight.

Gürragchaa worked as the chief of staff of air defense for the Mongolian Armed Forces, served as the Defense Minister of Mongolia from 2000 to 2004^[6]^[7] and was a member of State Great Khural from 2004 to 2008.^[8]

Personal life

Gürragchaa is married and has two children. He heads the fund for development of bandy in Mongolia.^[9] Aside from Mongolian, Gürragchaa is fluent in Russian due to his time in Russia.

Awards

Hero of the Soviet Union (30 March 1981)^[10]
Order of Lenin
Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic (1981)
Order of Sukhbaatar (1981)
Order of Genghis Khan (2021)^[11]
Order of Alexander Nevsky (2021)^[12]^[13]
Order of Honour (2011)^[14]
Order of Friendship (2001)^[15]
Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (2011)^[16]

References

^ "OpenLearn Live: 30th November 2015 - OpenLearn - Open University". www.open.edu.
^ [email protected], Anthony R. Curtis. "Space Today Online -- Man In Space Firsts -- table of contents". www.spacetoday.org.
^ "The Defense Attaché at the Embassy of Mongolia in Russia, Colonel Gotovyn LUNDEN, answers the questions of the "Red Star"". old.redstar.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 12 June 2021.
^ "ЗӨВЛӨЛТ МОНГОЛЫН САНСРЫН ХАМТАРСАН НИСЛЭГ". www.sansar81.mn. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
^ Dicati, Renato (10 January 2017). Stamping the Earth from Space. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-20756-8.
^ Country Report: China, Mongolia. The Unit. February 2001.
^ Sanders, Alan J. K. (25 August 2017). Historical Dictionary of Mongolia. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-0227-5.
^ Mongol Survey: A Publication of the Mongolia Society. Mongolia Society. 2004.
^ "Bandy. Silver Mungunhuyag. Most exotic star team at the World Cup Bandy dreams to perform at Olympics". sovsport.ru. 1 February 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014.
^ (in Russian) Biography at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia
^ "First Mongolian cosmonaut receives Order of Genghis Khan - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
^ "J.Gurragchaa awarded with the Order of Alexander Nevsky". MONTSAME News Agency. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
^ "Лавров обсудит с главой МИД Монголии экономическое сотрудничество Москвы и Улан-Батора". ТАСС. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 09.06.2011 г. № 743". Президент России.
^ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 17.03.2001 г. № 315". Президент России.
^ Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 12 апреля 2011 года № 437 «О награждении медалью «За заслуги в освоении космоса» иностранных граждан».