Cosmonauts
On September 18th, 1980, the current Brigadier General, accompanied by the experienced pilot cosmonaut, Colonel Yuri V. Romanenko, boarded the spacecraft ‘’ Soyuz 38’’ and headed toward the cosmic space. The Soviet-Cuban crew represented the 7th trip of the Program ‘’Intercosmos’’.
There, they developed a series of medical-biological and technological experiments, planned by the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. As part of the mission, the crew visited their colleagues Leonid Popov and Valeri Ryumin, who were in the orbital station ‘’Salyut 6’’. The crew of ‘’Soyuz 38’’, returned to Earth eight days later with deserved honors. The ‘’Presidium of the Soviet Supremo’’ of the former USSR, conferred the title ‘’Heroes of the Soviet Union’’ and the Order ‘’Lenin’’ on both cosmonauts. The cuban state gave them the Gold Medal of ‘’Heroes of the Republic of Cuba’’ and the Order ‘’Playa Girón’’.
The Brigadier General, Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, is one of the cuban personalities of the twentieth century. He contributed to the scientific development of Cuba and was the first Latin American and cuban cosmonaut who reached the space and lived the extraordinary experience of a celestial journey. Referring to the historical event, the Commander in Chief Fidel Castro said: "Arnaldo Tamayo represented Cuba, Latin America, Africa and the Third World".