On July 23, 1980, Famous pilot Pham Tuan together with Soviet cosmonaut Viktor Vassilyevich Gorbatko made a space flight on the spacecraft Union 37. He became the first Vietnamese and Asian to fly into space. General Pham Tuan and his companions during the historic space flight. Remember the past, General Pham Tuan said that on that day, to serve the flight into space, Vietnamese pilots were involved a lot, selected for 6-7 months. The selected person must meet the health criteria, understanding and awareness of the universe, in accordance with the program’s standards. After many rounds, there were 4 people in the Soviet Union, including General Pham Tuan. After nearly a month of recruitment examination at Moscow Central Military Hospital, the National Scientific Council called 4 people to announce, at that time everyone was nervous. “I was called in first and it felt like a beauty pageant. Unexpectedly, as soon as the leader of the delegation, all members of the Council shook hands and congratulated him. Then he trained at the space center for about 16 months. On July 21, 1980, Viktor Vassilyevich Gorbatko was named to fly together. Thus, he only knew that he was the main pilot 3 days before the flight time. General Pham Tuan said, about 2 hours before the flight, he had an insecure thought that he had an accident, but the probability was not great. The fleeting thought didn’t faze him, as the training had put a lot of faith in the crew. Bringing injustice for bringing mulberry flowers into space At exactly 1:33 on July 23, 1980 (Hanoi time) at Baikonur Cosmodrome (USSR) the Union 37 spacecraft piloted by Gorbatko and Pham Tuan launched into space. When the Vietnamese national flag was raised, we were officially named in the international space travel map. General Pham Tuan’s image in the historic flight He said, the ship made 142 orbits around the earth, conducted more than 30 aeronautical remote sensing experiments, dissolved mineral samples and plant experiments on mulberry flowers. He recalls: “The first time I saw the rotating earth hovering in the middle of a deep blue space, in zero gravity, it felt very special. The second interesting thing is that day and night only lasts for 90 minutes, of which 60 minutes is daytime, 30 minutes is night. “The plane flew over all the countries, looking through the window I saw the twinkling stars, much bigger and brighter because of the clean space, and then the sun and the moon. I’ve been trying to find my dear S-shaped strip of land to look at. Before that, I also flew a lot of planes, but to fly that high, maybe only once in my life, feeling too proud,” he added. He also said that during the flight, there was a problem, that is, when flying up to prepare for assembly, it should have turned 180 degrees to increase the speed to approach the mother ship, but when it turned 90 degrees, Rotary system failure. I couldn’t check forever so I had to turn off the machine and wait after nearly 90 minutes. The Bulgarian – Soviet flight crew also had a problem and failed to assemble, they had to return to Earth and could not continue their journey, so the crew was quite worried. But in the end it all worked out. General Pham Tuan said, after returning to earth, there were many rumors surrounding him and this flight, especially the story that he was carrying mulberry flowers. Many people have said, “Mr. Pham Tuan was born in the poor low-lying countryside of Thai Binh, specializing in raising ducks to feed pigs. Going to space did not bring anything good, but he brought duckweed. Now duckweed. I don’t know if it’s good or bad.” General Pham Tuan in a meeting with international friends. General Pham Tuan explained: The matter of bringing duckweed must be decided by a team of scientists, not about carrying whatever you like. Strawberry water lily is easy to proliferate, absorb carbon dioxide, and produce oxygen. There are a lot of radioactive rays in the universe, whether it has an effect on humans, on organisms that cause genetic mutations, and bringing the water lily up is for this research purpose.” General Pham Tuan affirmed that all these scandals did not affect his life much in the end, but even made him more determined and more effortful in his work. Please read and watch the video: Temporarily suspending the work of the Chairman of the commune for being negligent in fighting the epidemic in Bac Giang. Source: THTPCT.

These documents and images are selected from the archival and cultural institutions of the two countries: The National Russian Academy of Archives of Political and Social History, the National Archives Center III, the Bureau of Clerical and Archives. State of Vietnam, Vietnam News Agency, Ho Chi Minh Museum. In particular, some documents and documents provided by astronaut Pham Tuan …

In the book, there are a number of documents that have just been declassified, published for the first time, introduced to readers, providing valuable information and documents not only for researchers on scientific and technical achievements. the above meaning, in terms of the history of international relations, is for all those who are interested in the history of relations between the two countries Vietnam – the Russian Federation.

The book “Historical Astronaut” contains many classified documents

The book’s content is arranged into 3 parts.

Part 1 “Collaborative space research. The pre-flight preparation and training process in 1980 ”introduces documents and photos about the preparation process of the two countries Vietnam – Soviet Union / Russian Federation and the selection of pilots for the flight, as well as the process of exercising effort.

Part 2 “Departure and Activities” introduces some documents and photos of astronauts in the outer-Earth’s cabin.

Part 3 “Return to Earth”, contains pictures of the astronauts’ activities after the end of the flight, thereby highlighting the value and meaning of flight. It opens a new era, belief, hope, pride and determination in human life, production, study, as well as conquering nature and the universe.

Mr. Dang Thanh Tung, Director of the State Records and Archives Department emphasized: “The book is also a testament to the effective cooperation of the archival agencies and cultural agencies of the two countries to contribute to the At the same time, this is also an opportunity for the two Archives agencies of Vietnam and the Russian Federation to share and promote the value of archives currently preserved in the archive of the two countries “.

On July 23, 1980, pilot Pham Tuan with Soviet astronaut Gorbatko was launched into space from Baikonur space airport aboard Soyuz-37. During 8 days in space, hero Pham Tuan performed 142 orbits around the earth, conducted many scientific experiments, and photographed Vietnam from earth orbit.

Viktor Gorbatko (left) and Pham Tuan. Photo: AFP.

In a time sharing with the students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, hero Pham Tuan said that it only took him one year and three months to prepare, including studying engineering and physical training, for the flight. This time is shortened compared to pilots from other countries, because before that he was a pilot of a military fighter plane.

When the ship was just launched, people lost the attraction of the earth so the blood did not circulate normally, but put more head on the head. At that time, his face was swollen from the blood rushing to his head. Three days later, the face was pressed down so a layer of skin was removed. He lost sleep for several days, his mind was always in a state of tension.

Moving and working on a spaceship is very difficult. Eating and drinking is also miserable when they only have dry food prepared like toothpaste to eat and drink two liters of water a day.

Talking about the feeling of seeing the earth from outer space, hero Pham Tuan said it was a rare and unforgettable feeling.

“At that time, it was not Vietnam, the Soviet Union or any other country, but the earth was the home of the pilots. The happiest of pilots was that after working hours, there was a few minutes of rest and thinking. about the earth, family, relatives, “he said.