Mongolia's first cosmonaut Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa met with INRTU students and schoolchildren of the Irkutsk region
Mongolia's first cosmonaut Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa visited INRTU on an official visit on the occasion of «The Cup of Two Lakes» bandy tournament. On March 28, the cosmonaut met with INRTU students and schoolchildren of the Irkutsk region and told them interesting facts about his life.
Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa is the head of the organizational committee of "The Cup of Two Lakes" bandy tournament. The competition is dedicated to the 42nd anniversary of the Soviet-Mongolian flight into space. The games are organized on Lake Baikal (Bolshoye Goloustnoye) on March 30 and Khuvsgul (Khankh, Mongolia) on April 4.
INRTU rector Mikhail Korniakov said that listeners have a unique opportunity to ask questions to the cosmonaut:
"Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa is the president of the Russian-Mongolian Society, which was created to develop friendship between two nations. We thank Gurragchaa for supporting our university in all initiatives aimed at cooperation with Mongolia."
The Russian-Mongolian Friendship Society awarded Mikhail Korniakov with "The Golden Star of Friendship" in 2021.
Students and schoolchildren watched videos about the Mongolian cosmonaut, asked questions and took part in a quiz. The winners of the quiz received prizes from Roscosmos.
Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa, Hero of the USSR, flew abroad Soyuz-39 in 1981. Vladimir Dzhanibekov, Hero of the Soviet Union, was the crew commander. The Russian-Mongolian crew spent 7 days, 20 hours, 42 minutes and 3 seconds in orbit. During this time, the cosmonauts conducted about 30 scientific experiments.
The Mongolian cosmonaut delivered a special government cargo to the orbital station. This cargo included the national flag, the text of the Constitution, a portrait of Sukhbaatar, a capsule with a message for future generations, and a map of the starry sky created by scientists of the Great Horde in the 16th century.
"I was born in a Mongolian village in a large family of shepherds. I first heard about space in the fifth grade. I was playing with my friends when the loudspeaker announced the flight of Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin. After that, all boys dreamed of becoming astronauts."
Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa studied at the Mongolian University of Life Sciences in Ulaanbaatar and at Military Institute of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic. While he was serving in the Mongolian People's Army, he was sent to the School of Aviation Junior Specialists in 1971. Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa graduated from Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. He was selected for the space flight in 1978. The preparation for this event took three years.
Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa said, «We took off at night. We saw the first sun rays, while we were flying over the Pacific Ocean. We took many high-quality pictures of my homeland, which were used in the development of the satellite map of Mongolia. I was lucky to go into space under the command of Vladimir Dzhanibekov».
At the end of the event, Zhugderdemidin Gurgacha wished the students success in their studies:
"Set ambitious goals and achieve them. Hard work and excellent education will help you to do this. Many of my compatriots, who head large mining enterprises, graduated from INRTU."
Jugderdemidiin Gurragchaa currently lives in Ulanbaatar, and heads the Bandy Federation of Mongolia. He also runs the Astropark at the Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.
You can watch a live broadcast of the meeting with the students here. Watch the meeting with students here.
