Abdul Ahad Momand, an Afghan air force pilot who served on the Mir space station, dies at 67

FILE - The Russian abstraction presumption Mir is seen from abstraction shuttle Atlantis during a alert astir aft Atlantis undocked from Mir Thursday, March 28, 1996, successful this representation from television.

NASA TV via AP

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan ’s archetypal national successful space, has died astatine property 67, his household and friends said.

A nationalist hero, Momand died from crab connected June 21 successful a infirmary successful Stuttgart, Germany, wherever helium had lived since leaving Afghanistan successful 1992 during the civilian war.

“I americium profoundly saddened by the abrupt decease of Afghanistan’s archetypal and lone astronaut, Abdul Ahad Momand,” erstwhile President Ashraf Ghani wrote connected X. “I commune to God to assistance Momand a precocious spot successful heaven, and I widen my deepest condolences to his wife, children, and different household members.”

In 1988, Momand — past a 29‑year‑old aerial unit aviator — was selected to articulation a Soviet abstraction programme designed to nonstop representatives from aligned nations into orbit, astatine a clip erstwhile Afghanistan was nether Soviet control.

After months of training, helium flew aboard Soyuz TM‑6 with Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Polyakov, spending 9 days successful abstraction and conducting technological probe connected the Mir abstraction station. His instrumentality aboard different spacecraft, the Soyuz TM‑5, was delayed by a time owed to method problems, leaving him and Lyakhov stranded successful cramped conditions and astatine hazard of being near without nutrient and oxygen.

An Associated Press study astatine the clip noted that Momand, whose surname was past spelled Mohmand, highlighted his anterior relation successful a associated Soviet‑Afghan subject effort to extremity an insurgency successful his homeland. The study cited him arsenic saying helium had flown hundreds of onslaught missions.

Before launching, Momand told Sovietskaya Rossiya that his abstraction ngo would assistance place Afghanistan’s mineral resources, measure hydroelectric imaginable and survey glaciers and earthquake risks, according to the AP report.

The AP said helium addressed his chap citizens successful a televised connection from orbit saying that unit cannot beryllium seen from outer space.

"I would similar to judge that specified volition beryllium the concern connected the onshore inhabited by my brothers and sisters, connected the onshore of our fathers and mothers who person suffered truthful overmuch during the years of the war,” helium was quoted arsenic saying.

He besides carried and work from the Quran during his mission, which Ghani described arsenic a infinitesimal that introduced Afghanistan to the satellite “with nationalist colors and nationalist words” and presented its Islamic individuality to the cosmos.

“His 9 days connected the Mir abstraction presumption made Afghans hide the bitterness of the civilian wars of 1988 and the remainder of that decade,” Ghani added.

Momand was calved successful Ghazni province’s Andar district, successful southeastern Afghanistan. He trained successful subject academies successful Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.

His decease was met with sorrow successful Afghanistan among radical who remembered him arsenic a hero.

Zahir Ammar, a 35-year-old Jalalabad-based blogger connected cosmology, paid tribute to Momand, emphasizing the historical value of his ngo for Afghanistan.

“Abdul Ahad Momand is the archetypal Afghan astronaut successful the full technological past of the state to spell into space, helium took the Holy Quran with him into abstraction and added Pashto to the database of languages spoken successful space,” helium wrote.

“Now, astronauts’ trips to (international abstraction stations) person go commonplace, but during the clip of the precocious Abdul Ahad Momand, this was a large accomplishment for Afghanistan,” helium said.

Ammar besides expresses regret that Momand died successful exile, wishing helium could person shared his experiences with the younger procreation successful Afghanistan.

Funeral and memorial arrangements were not announced. Momand is survived by his wife, 2 daughters and a son.

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Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey.

June 30, 2026|Updated June 30, 2026 7:55 p.m.