Poland’s only cosmonaut Gen Miroslaw Hermaszewski passes away

Poland’s only cosmonaut Gen Miroslaw Hermaszewski passes away: Gen Miroslaw Hermaszewski, the only cosmonaut from Poland, just passed away at the age of 81. He circled the Earth in a Soviet spacecraft in 1978. Hermaszewski became a national hero thanks to his trip to space. For nine days in June and July of 1978, Hermaszewski and Soviet cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk circled the Earth in the Soyuz 30 spaceship that docked at the Salyut 6 orbital space station. They went around the globe 126 times.

December 2022 Current Affairs Quiz

Interesting things about Gen Miroslaw Hermaszewski:

Hermaszewski travelled into space as part of the Soviet Union’s Intercosmos program, which offered an opportunity to explore space for countries within the then-Eastern Bloc, under Moscow’s domination or which had ties with the Soviets.

Vladimir Remek of the former Czechoslovakia launched first as part of the programme in March 1978. Hermaszewski followed, while Sigmund Jahn of then-East Germany was the third to fly that year.

They all trained at the Star City space flight preparation facility outside Moscow. Hungary, Bulgaria, Cuba, Vietnam, Mongolia, Romania, Syria, Afghanistan, and India were some of the other nations who provided cosmonauts. Later, France joined the initiative and sent Jean-Loup Chretien in 1982.