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Franz Viehböck

Austrian - (ALR)

Retired

Date of Birth: Aug. 24, 1960
Age: 64


Franz Artur Viehböck (born August 24, 1960 in Vienna) is an Austrian electrical engineer, and was Austria's first cosmonaut. He was titulated „Austronaut“ by his country's media. He visited the Mir space station in 1991 aboard Soyuz TM-13, returning aboard Soyuz TM-12 after spending just over a week in space.

Soyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-12

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
May 18, 1991, 12:50 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TM-12 was the 12th mission and the ninth long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on May 18, 1991, 12:50:28 UTC, launching Commander Anatoly Artsebarsky, Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalyov and Research Cosmonaut Helen Sharman, the first British cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed EVAs, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in biology, geophysics, space technology, astronomy etc. They were visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-13 crew. Helen Sharman returned on May 26, 1991, in Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft. While Sergei Krikalyov stayed on the station as a part of the next long-duration expedition, Anatoly Artsebarsky landed safely back on Earth on October 10, 1991, 04:12:18 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-13

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Oct. 2, 1991, 5:59 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TM-13 was the 13th mission and the tenth long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on October 2, 1991, 05:59:38 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Volkov, Research Cosmonaut/Flight Engineer Toktar Aubakirov and Research Cosmonaut Franz Viehböck, the first Austrian cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed EVAs, various station repair and maintenance tasks, and carried out scientific experiments in biology, geophysics, space technology, astronomy etc. They were visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-14 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 25, 1992, 08:51:22 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit
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Administrator: Andreas Geisler

The Austrian Space Agency was founded in 1972 and joined the ESA as a member in 1987. In 2005, control of the ALR was transferred to the Austrian Agency for Aerospace. They coordinated the first flight of an Austrian in space with a Soyuz launch in 1990.


Soyuz 2.1b
Success
1 day, 12 hours ago
Resurs-P No.5
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Resurs-P is a series of Russian commercial Earth observation satellites capable of acquiring high-resolution imagery (resolution up to 1.0 m).


Falcon 9
Success
3 days, 14 hours ago
Starlink Group 12-2
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

A batch of 21 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
5 days, 6 hours ago
StriX Launch 6
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar satellites for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective.


Falcon 9
Success
5 days, 8 hours ago
Bandwagon 2 (Dedicated Mid-Inclination Rideshare)
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

Dedicated rideshare flight to a mid-inclination orbit with dozens of small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers…


Long March 3
Success
6 days, 5 hours ago
TJSW-12
Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Chinese classified satellite claimed to be for communication technology test purposes. Actual mission not known.