Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, born 5 December 1947) was the first Mongolian in space. He was selected as part of the eighth Intercosmos program on 1 March 1978, at time he was in the rank of Major General. His backup was Maidarjavyn Ganzorig. Gürragchaa, along with Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Dzhanibekov, departed from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 22 March 1981. They docked with Salyut 6. While in orbit, Dzhanibekov and Gürragchaa carried out experiments on earth science. After 124 orbits and 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes in space, Gürragchaa and Dzhanibekov landed 170 km southeast of Dzhezkasgan.
Soyuz 39 was the 15th mission to visit the Salyut 6 space station and carried the the EP-9 crew, which visited the long-duration Soyuz T-4 resident crew. The mission began on March 22, 1981, 14:58, launching Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov and Research Cosmonaut Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, the first Mongolian cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with the station the next day. During their 7-day stay on the station, EP-9 crew conducted Earth observation, material, medical and other experiments, including cosmic radiation research. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 30, 1981, 11:40:58 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.