Remembering the Forgotten Spaceman
Since the dawn of our existence, humans have always looked up.
For thousands of years, we looked at the stars and imagined myths and stories and wonders all taking shape in that dark abyss above us. Then, one day we built machines powerful enough to leave the Earth behind to see those stars and a young man from Afghanistan became one of the people who carried our questions into the darkness above.
Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghan astronaut, has died at the age of 67.
His story sounds made up when you hear it, no one knows about the Afghan who went to space, but then you have to remember that history is full of people who did extraordinary things and then returned to very ordinary lives. Most of them were often remembered and celebrated, but our spaceman has been almost lost to time and history.
In 1988, at the age of 29, Momand travelled into space as part of a joint Soviet mission to the Mir space station. He spent around nine days orbiting the Earth becoming not only the first person from Afghanistan to go to space, but also a symbol of what was possible for a country that was plagued with decades of war.
While aboard Mir, Momand photographed parts of Afghanistan from above, contributing to studies of geology, water resources, minerals and earthquakes. He looked down at the country that had shaped him, and we looked up at one of our own, among the stars.
From space, he also sent a message calling for peace in Afghanistan, a reminder that even while floating hundreds of kilometres above the Earth he remained connected to the struggles and hopes of the people below.
He carried a copy of the Qur’an, the first Muslim to take it into space.When he called his mum from up there, Pashto became the fourth language ever spoken among the stars.
When Momand returned, Afghanistan celebrated him as a national hero. The political changes and conflicts that followed forced him to leave his homeland in 1992. He spent the rest of his life in Germany, living in exile and unable to permanently return home.
There is a sadnes in the thought that a man who travelled farther from Earth than any other Afghan ever had, could not find a way back to the place he loved.
I made a film called Forgotten Spaceman because I felt that Momand’s story deserved to be remembered and to bring the story of our spaceman to those who don’t know it, a shining jewel in the history of my country.
May our Spaceman rest among the stars he once visited.
Inna Lillahe wa Inna Illahe Raji’oon.
![]()
For thousands of years, we looked at the stars and imagined myths and stories and wonders all taking shape in that dark abyss above us. Then, one day we built machines powerful enough to leave the Earth behind to see those stars and a young man from Afghanistan became one of the people who carried our questions into the darkness above.
Abdul Ahad Momand, the first Afghan astronaut, has died at the age of 67.
His story sounds made up when you hear it, no one knows about the Afghan who went to space, but then you have to remember that history is full of people who did extraordinary things and then returned to very ordinary lives. Most of them were often remembered and celebrated, but our spaceman has been almost lost to time and history.
In 1988, at the age of 29, Momand travelled into space as part of a joint Soviet mission to the Mir space station. He spent around nine days orbiting the Earth becoming not only the first person from Afghanistan to go to space, but also a symbol of what was possible for a country that was plagued with decades of war.
While aboard Mir, Momand photographed parts of Afghanistan from above, contributing to studies of geology, water resources, minerals and earthquakes. He looked down at the country that had shaped him, and we looked up at one of our own, among the stars.
From space, he also sent a message calling for peace in Afghanistan, a reminder that even while floating hundreds of kilometres above the Earth he remained connected to the struggles and hopes of the people below.
He carried a copy of the Qur’an, the first Muslim to take it into space.When he called his mum from up there, Pashto became the fourth language ever spoken among the stars.
When Momand returned, Afghanistan celebrated him as a national hero. The political changes and conflicts that followed forced him to leave his homeland in 1992. He spent the rest of his life in Germany, living in exile and unable to permanently return home.
There is a sadnes in the thought that a man who travelled farther from Earth than any other Afghan ever had, could not find a way back to the place he loved.
I made a film called Forgotten Spaceman because I felt that Momand’s story deserved to be remembered and to bring the story of our spaceman to those who don’t know it, a shining jewel in the history of my country.
May our Spaceman rest among the stars he once visited.
Inna Lillahe wa Inna Illahe Raji’oon.
Sun 21 June, ‘26