(Baonghean.vn) - 37 years ago, on July 23, 1980, Vietnamese astronaut Pham Tuan and Soviet astronaut Vichtor Vaxilievich Gorbatko successfully completed a space flight on the Union 37 spacecraft.
The historic flight began at 9:33 p.m. on July 23, 1980 (Moscow time) from the Baikonur International Cosmodrome, Soviet Union, and returned to Earth at 6:15 p.m. on July 31, 1980 on the Soyuz 37 spacecraft.
During the 8-day space flight, the two astronauts made a total of 142 orbits around the Earth, conducted 30 aeronautical remote sensing experiments, measured and built a soil moisture map of the Red River region, and prepared to build the Hoa Sen Ground Station to serve communications via the Intersputnik system.
The flight became a historic event in the lives of the people of the two countries, marking a new milestone in the development of traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and the former Soviet Union, as well as with the Russian Federation today.
Join Nghe An Newspaper to see valuable documentary images of this historic flight.
 |
Cosmonaut Gorbatko and Pham Tuan. |
 |
The Soyuz 37 spacecraft is launched into the launch pad at Baikonur city. |
 |
Astronaut Pham Tuan signs the landing capsule of the Union 37 spacecraft. |
 |
Cosmonaut Pham Tuan and Gorbatko at the "Welcome 6" training station, Soviet Union, July 1980. |
 |
On July 31, 1980, after a week flying in space, two astronauts returned safely to Earth. |
 |
Two cosmonauts return at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on August 4, 1980. |
 |
Relatives welcome the two returning astronauts at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on August 4, 1980. |
 |
Two astronauts waved to the people of Ho Chi Minh City after their space flight. |
 |
Lieutenant General Pham Tuan and Major General Vichtor Vaxilievich Gorbatco at the 30th Anniversary of the Beginning of Soviet-Vietnamese Space Flight (July 23, 1980 - July 23, 2010). |
 |
President Nguyen Minh Triet with the family of Soviet cosmonaut Gorbatko and the family of Heroic Pilot Pham Tuan in 2010, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the historic flight. |
 |
On the afternoon of July 21, 2015, at the Presidential Palace, President Truong Tan Sang received Major General, Hero of the Soviet space pilot Gorbatko and Lieutenant General, Hero of the pilot Pham Tuan, who successfully made the flight into space in 1980. |
 |
President Truong Tan Sang took a souvenir photo with Major General, Hero of the Soviet Union Gorbatko and Lieutenant General, Hero of the Soviet pilot Pham Tuan, who successfully made the space flight in 1980. |
Kim Ngoc
(Synthetic)