Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez

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**Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez**
Intercosmos Cosmonaut

Nationality	Cuban
Born	January 29, 1942 Guantanamo, Cuba
Occupation¹	Pilot
Space time	7d 20h 43m
Selection	1978 Intercosmos Group
Mission(s)	Soyuz 38
¹ previous or current

Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (born January 29, 1942) was the first Cuban cosmonaut and the first person from a country in the Western Hemisphere other than the United States to travel in outer space. He was also the first Hispanophone and first person of African ancestry in space.

Born in Guantánamo,^[1] Tamayo graduated from the Cuban Air Force Academy and became a pilot in the Cuban Air Defense Force. He was selected as part of the Soviet Union's seventh Intercosmos program on March 1, 1978. His backup cosmonaut was fellow Cuban José López Falcón.

Tamayo, along with Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko, was launched into space aboard Soyuz 38 from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 18, 1980, at 19:11 UTC. After docking with Salyut 6, Tamayo and Romanenko conducted experiments in an attempt to find what caused space adaptation syndrome, and perhaps even find a cure. After 124 orbits of the Earth (lasting 7 days, 20 hours and 43 minutes), Tamayo and Romanenko landed 180 km from Dzhezkazgan. The landing was risky, as it was during the night.^[2]

Following his career as a cosmonaut, Tamayo was made Director of the Military Patriotic Educational Society (known as "SEPMI"), the Cuban version of the Boy Scouts. After his promotion to Brigadier General, he became Director of International Affairs in the Cuban armed forces.

Tamayo is married to Maria Lobaina and has two sons, Orlando (born 1968) and Arnaldo (born 1970).