Tohar Aubakirov Astronaut Date of Birth: 24.07.1946 Country: Kazakhstan

1. Biography of Tohtar Aubakirov
2. Early Life and Education
3. Career as a Test Pilot
4. Spaceflight
5. Post-Spaceflight Career

Biography of Tohtar Aubakirov

Tohtar Aubakirov, born on July 27, 1946, in the Karkaralinsk District of the Karaganda Region in the Kazakh SSR (now the Republic of Kazakhstan), was the 72nd Soviet cosmonaut and the first Kazakhstani cosmonaut.

Early Life and Education

After completing eight grades of schooling, Aubakirov worked as a lathe operator at the Temirtau Foundry and Mechanical Plant while also attending evening school. In 1965, he graduated from school and enrolled in the Armavir Higher Military Aviation School of Air Defense Pilots. Upon completing his studies at the aviation school in 1969, Aubakirov served in the Soviet Air Forces.

Career as a Test Pilot

In 1976, Aubakirov graduated from the Test Pilot School and began working as a test pilot for the Mikoyan Design Bureau and the Gromov Flight Research Institute until 1991. Throughout his career, he mastered over 50 types of aircraft and conducted test flights with ship-based aircraft in Crimea. He became the first person in the USSR to lift a production model of the supersonic MiG-29 fighter from the deck of the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser "Tbilisi." While working as a test pilot, Aubakirov also obtained a degree from the Sergo Ordzhonikidze Moscow Aviation Institute through distance learning.

Spaceflight

In 1991, as per an agreement between the governments of the former Soviet republics of Russia and Kazakhstan, Aubakirov began training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. He completed an accelerated training course for a flight aboard the "Soyuz TM" spacecraft and the "Mir" orbital complex as a research cosmonaut. On October 2, 1991, Aubakirov, along with Alexander Volkov and Austrian astronaut Franz Fischeder, embarked on a space journey aboard the "Soyuz TM-13" spacecraft. He spent a week onboard the Mir Space Station before returning to Earth on October 10, 1991, with Anatoly Arzamazov and Franz Fischeder aboard the "Soyuz T-12" spacecraft. His total duration in space was 7 days, 22 hours, and 13 minutes.

Post-Spaceflight Career

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Aubakirov settled in Kazakhstan and entered into public service. Since April 1992, he has served as the First Deputy Chairman of the State Defense Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan and as an assistant to the President of Kazakhstan in space exploration. Aubakirov is a Hero of the Soviet Union and has been awarded the Order of Lenin and various medals. He is also an Honored Test Pilot of the USSR.