Sigmund Jähn
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| Sigmund Jähn | |
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| Intercosmos Cosmonaut | |
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| Born | February 13, 1937 Saxony, Germany |
| Other occupation | Pilot |
| Rank | Major General, East German Air Force |
| Time in space | 7d 20h 49m |
| Selection | 1976 Intercosmos Group |
| Missions | Soyuz 31/Soyuz 29 |
| Mission insignia |  |
Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (born February 13, 1937) is a German pilot who become the first German to fly in space as part of the Soviet Union's Intercosmos program.
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[edit] Biography
Jähn was born in Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz, Vogtland, Germany. From 1943 to 1951 he attended school in his hometown, and after school trained as a printer.
In 1955 he joined the (East) German Democratic Republic air force (the Luftstreitkräfte der NVA) where he became a pilot and military scientist. From 1966–1970 he studied at the Gagarin Military Air Academy in Monino, in the Soviet Union, and afterwards worked in the administration of the East German air force, responsible for pilot education and flight safety.
Jähn was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on September 3, 1978 [1] In 1983 he received a doctorate in physics at the “Zentralinstitut für Physik der Erde” in Potsdam, specialising in remote sensing of the earth.
Starting in 1990, after German reunification, he worked as a freelance consultant for the formerly West German spaceflight agency DLR, and from 1993 also for the ESA to prepare for the Euromir missions. In 2002 he finally retired from this job.
Jähn is married and has two children. He lives in Strausberg and he enjoys reading and hunting.
Asteroid 17737 was named Sigmundjähn in 2001.
Jähn, as a legendary figure of the GDR, was a part of the plot of the movie Good Bye Lenin!.
[edit] Spaceflight
In 1976, Jähn was selected with his backup Eberhard Köllner for the Intercosmos program. He trained in Star City near Moscow for the next two years, and flew on board Soyuz 31 (launched August 26, 1978) to the Soviet space station Salyut 6, and returned on Soyuz 29 (landed September 3, 1978). He spent 7 days, 20 hours, and 49 minutes in space.
During and after the flight, he and the socialist authorities of the GDR pronounced him “the first German cosmonaut”, which was remarkable, as in those days the East German state normally stressed that their people were “GDR citizens”, to distinguish themselves from West Germany.
[edit] Quotes
- Dear TV viewers in the German Democratic Republic. I am very happy for the chance to be the first German to take part in this manned space flight. (during his space flight)[2]
- Mankind is advanced technically. Man can build space stations, can assemble them in space, and ponders about landing on Mars, but the development of mankind itself seems to stagnate on stone age level. (radio broadcast in the 1990s)
- …what I saw then was total happiness: Our Earth, in shining in bright blue. Just like a dream. (SUPERillu magazine interview, 1998)[3]
- As a pilot I just could not resist the offer to fly a space capsule… (speech in front of DLR audience, 2005)[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Biography at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia (Russian)
- ^ cited at Bild site “Erster Deutscher im Weltraum” (German)
- ^ cited at MDR site “Damals in der DDR” (German)
- ^ cited at german newspaper Stuttgarter Nachrichten site “Sigmund Jähn: erster Deutscher im All” (German)
