Abdul Ahad MOHMAND

PROFILE

Full Name:

Abdul Ahad MOHMAND (MOMAND - see below).

Rank:

Colonel, Afghan Air Force (Deceased).

Born:

1958 or 1959*, in Sardeh Band, Andar District, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan (Afghan).

*As with many Afghans at the time, his parents did not know the exact date he was born. As a result, his administrative 'Date of Birth' became 1 January 1959.

Died:

21 June 2026, in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, aged 66/67.

Education:

- 1976: Habibia High School.

1976-78: Kabul Polytechnic University.

1984-87: Studied at the Soviet Air Force Academy named for Yu. A. Gagarin, Monino, USSR (now Russia).

Career Highlights:

1978-81: Concscripted into the Afghan Air Force, he received pilot training in the Soviet Union at the Krasnodar Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots and, in 1981, the Kiev Higher Air Force Engineering School; (1981) graduated pilot training.

1981-92: Served in the Afghan Air Force, rising though the ranks (to Colonel) and becoming a chief navigator at Bagram Air Base.

1984-87: Student, Gagarin Air Force Academy.

1987-88: Returned to Afghan Air Force duties.

SPACE EXPLORER ASSIGNMENTS

1988:

(Feb) Selected as one of two Afghan cosmonaut candidates; began Interkosmos cosmonaut training; (Apr) mission brought forward to Aug 1988; originally assigned as BUp Cosmonaut Researcher; (Jul) prime candidate Mohammed Dawran reportedly became ill with appendicitis and was medically grounded and replaced by Mohmand; (29 Aug - 7 Sep) flew as Cosmonaut Researcher (call sign Proton-3) Soyuz TM-6 to Mir (8 days 20 hrs 34 min); first Afghan citizen in space; spent 6+ days aboard Mir with the EO-3 resident crew; (7 Sep) landed in Soyuz TM-5; the landing was delayed 24 hrs after jettisoning the Orbital Module due to systems confusion caused by combined software and sensor problems; (from Sep) post-flight activities; (7 Sep) awarded title Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Order of Lenin; (Sep) retired from active flight status and returned to Afghan Air Force duties.

POST SPACE EXPLORER EXPERIENCE

1988-91:

Afghan Air Force duties; became Deputy Minister of Civil Aviation; when Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan, he was in India resolving an issue with Arina Airlines during the collapse of the Afghan government; he decided to emigrate to Germany as a political refugee.

1992-2026:

Applied for asylum in Germany*; (2003) became a German citizen, subsequently working in the printing industry before becoming an accountant; resident in Ostfildern near Stuttgart, Germany; (2013) temporarily returned to Afghanistan at the request of the then president to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his space flight.

*During his asylum appeal, a spelling mistake on his German identiy papers omitted the 'h' from 'Mohmand'. From then on, as a German citizen, he officially became 'Momand'.

2026:

(21 Jun) Died from cancer, in Stuttgart, Germany, aged 66/67.

Abdul Ahad MOHMAND Space Flight Missions

Mission

Vehicle

Position

Dates

DD/MM/YYYY

Duration

DD:HH:MM:SS

EVAs

Mir visiting mission

Soyuz TM-6 [ascent] Soyuz TM-5 [descent]

Cosmonaut Researcher

29/08/1988-07/09/1988

08:20:34:47

0

Missions Flown:

1

Total Flight Time:

08:20:34:47

0