Toktar Ongarbayuly Aubakirov
Toktar Ongarbayuly Aubakirov is a Kazakh test pilot and cosmonaut who became the first person from Kazakhstan to fly in space. His 1991 Soyuz/Mir mission occurred during the final months of the Soviet Union and the emergence of independent Kazakhstan.
- Born
- July 27, 1946
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Karkaraly District, Karaganda Region,Soviet Union
Flights
1
Spacewalks
N/A
EVA time
N/A
In space
7 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes
Bio
Aubakirov trained as a military pilot and became a leading MiG test pilot. Before spaceflight, he tested more than fifty aircraft types, made a nonstop polar flight with aerial refueling, and became the first Soviet pilot to take off from the aircraft carrier Tbilisi in a MiG-29K.
He launched on Soyuz TM-13 in October 1991 with Alexander Volkov and Franz Viehböck and returned on Soyuz TM-12 after a short stay aboard Mir. His flight carried political and cultural importance because Kazakhstan hosted Baikonur and was negotiating its post-Soviet future.
After the mission, Aubakirov became a national aerospace leader, serving in Kazakhstan's space agency and parliament. His spaceflight was one visiting mission that used different Soyuz vehicles for launch and landing.