Vladimír Remek

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Vladimír Remek
VladimirRemek.jpg
Intercosmos Cosmonaut
Nationality Czech
Born (1948-09-26) September 26, 1948 (age 64)
České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
Other occupation Member of European Parliament, Pilot
Rank Colonel, Czechoslovak Air Force
Time in space 7d 22h 17m
Selection Air Force Group 6
Missions Soyuz 28
Mission insignia Soyuz28-patch.png
Module used by Remek to return to earth

Vladimír Remek (born 26 September 1948) is the first Czechoslovak in space and the first cosmonaut from a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. As of 2004, with the entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union Vladimír Remek is considered to be the first astronaut from the EU.[1] He flew aboard Soyuz 28 from March 2 to March 10, 1978, for seven days, 22 hours, and 17 minutes. In 2004 he was elected into the European Parliament.

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Early life and education [edit]

Vladimír Remek was born in České Budějovice to Czech mother and Slovak father. His father, Jozef Remek, was Lieutenant General of the Czechoslovak army (1973-75 deputy of the Minister of Defense responsible for air force and air defense, 1976-89 commander of the air force). In 1970 Vladimír Remek became military pilot. In 1976 he finished a Gagarin Air Force Academy in Monino, Moscow Region.

Intercosmos program and afterwards [edit]

Remek joined the Intercosmos program in 1976; his backup was Oldřich Pelčák. After the flight, on March 16, 1978, he and Aleksei Gubarev, the other member of the crew, were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.[2]

In 1990 he became director of the Military Museum for Aviation and Astronautics in Prague, since 1995 he worked as a sales representative for the company ČZ in Moscow, since 2002 he served at the Czech embassy in Russia.

During the 2004 European Parliament election Remek was an independent candidate for the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and, being second on the list, was elected into the European Parliament. He was elected again into the European Parliament in 2009 European Parliament election.

The asteroid 2552 Remek is named after him.

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Commemorating 30 years of European human space flight". EU CORDIS. Retrieved 2008-05-15. 
  2. ^ (Russian) Biography at the website on Heroes of the Soviet Union and Russia

External links [edit]

Media related to Vladimír Remek at Wikimedia Commons