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Sigmund Jähn | |
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 Sigmund Jähn, 1978 | |
| Born | Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (1937-02-13)13 February 1937 |
| Died | 21 September 2019(2019-09-21) (aged 82) |
| Occupation | Pilot |
| Awards | |
| Space career | |
 Interkosmos Cosmonaut | |
| Rank |  Generalmajor,Air Forces of the National People's Army |
Time in space | 7d 20h 49m |
| Selection | 1976 Intercosmos Group |
| Missions | Soyuz 31/Soyuz 29 |
Mission insignia |  |
Sigmund Werner Paul Jähn (German:[jɛ:n]; 13 February 1937 – 21 September 2019) was a Germanpilot,cosmonaut, andGeneralmajor (equivalent to a Brigadier General in Western armies) in theNational People's Army of theGDR. He was the first German to fly into space as part of theSoviet Union'sInterkosmos program in 1978.
He was the very last living East German holder of the titleHero of the German Democratic Republic when he died in 2019.
Jähn was born on 13 February 1937, in the town ofMorgenröthe-Rautenkranz, located within theVogtland region ofSaxony,Nazi Germany.[1] His father, Paul Jähn, was asawmill worker, and his mother, Dora Jähn, was ahousewife.[2] Sigmund attended primary school from 1943 to 1951 and then trained in an apprenticeship program as a book printer from 1951 to 1954.[3] Shortly after the apprenticeship, he worked as aPioneer Leader at theHammerbrückeCentral School.[4][5] Jähn (via his father's stories and memorabilia) and his father were impressed by the early rocketry pioneers of the 1920s aroundFritz von Opel and the first manned rockets on land and in the air,[6] igniting his enthusiasm for aviation, rocketry and spaceflight.
On 26 April 1955, Jähn enlisted into the predecessor of theEast German Army in the town ofPreschen and eventually worked his way into theEast German Air Force. He finished basic training in 1956, enrolling at theofficer's school in Kamenz, and was sent to flight school in the town ofBautzen, which would later become its ownofficer's school for military pilots. Jähn returned to his squadron, theJagdfliegergeschwader 8, orFighter Aviation Squad 8, two years later and remained there until 1960, when he and his team were relocated one last time toMarxwalde. During his flight career, he saved himself from crashing by ejecting from theMiG-17 he was piloting.[7] He worked as theDeputy Commander for Political Affairs in his squadron from 1961 to 1963, then headed the Air Tactics/Air Combat division until 1965. At the same time, Jähn passed hisAbitur and was sent to theJ.A. Gagarin Air Force Academy inMonino, just outside ofMoscow,Russia. Between 1970 and 1976, he was an inspector for fighter-pilot training and flight safety under theDeputy Head of the LSK/LV for Air Force Training of theKommando LSK/LV.
Jähn achieved the rank ofLieutenant Colonel and was selected for the Soviet Union'sInterkosmos cosmonaut training program in November 1976, alongside three other candidates (Eberhard Köllner,Rolf Berger, and Eberhard Golbs). Jähn and Köllner were selected out of the three candidates to be included in the first Interkosmos group.[1] In addition to Jähn's previous flying experience and expertise with the Russian language, he was selected for his early entry into the SED[1] program and his success coming from ablue-collar background.[4]
Jähn andKöllner began training together in 1976, with Köllner serving as his backup pilot. The two candidates spent the next two years conducting mission-specific training and their physical health was closely monitored by physicians at the NVA'sInstitute for Aviation Medicine in preparation for their upcoming flight.[8][9]
On 26 August 1978, Jähn and his co-pilot,Valery Bykovsky flew aboard theSoyuz 31 to the Soviet space stationSalyut 6. The two men were greeted by resident cosmonautsVladimir Kovalyonok andAleksandr Ivanchenkov who arrived during theSoyuz 29 mission. Jähn's flight lasted 7 days, 20 hours, 49 minutes, and 4 seconds - orbiting Earth 124 times. During the mission, he conducted numerous scientific experiments. These included technical experiments with theMKF-6 multispectral camera forremote sensing of the Earth's surface, material science experiments oncrystallization, like the formation, recrystallization, and the cultivation of amonocrystal. He also conducted medical experiments on how weightlessness affects speech,occupational psychological studies, testing the hearing sensitivity of regular crew members, biological experiments on cellular growth under weightlessness, and the connection betweenmicroorganisms withorganic polymers and inorganic substances.
Among the advanced scientific equipment on board, the two cosmonauts carried mementos from home. Jähn brought a figurine ofDas Sandmännchen, a well-known East German television character at the time, and Bykovsky brought a Misha doll, a character from a Soviet-era children's book series. They even broadcast a wedding between the two characters, which became controversial among East German and Soviet media outlets.[10]
The Soyuz 31 remained docked to the Salyut 6 station until the custom-made seats were transferred between both Soyuz craft, where it was then used as a return vessel for Kovalyonok and Ivanchenkov. Jähn and Bykovsky later returned in the Soyuz 29 craft.
Jähn received permanent injuries to hisspinal cord after an unexpectedly rough landing. Just a few yards from the ground, a gust of wind thrust the capsule back into the air, causing it hit the ground with increased momentum.[11] Jähn couldn't reach the capsule's parachute-release switch in time and was consequently dragged across thesteppes where it landed, rolling over itself several times before coming to a stop.
The report on thespace flight was prepared like ageneral staffing brief: on the morning of 26 August 1978, the editors in chief of the GDR radio stations and newspapers all received three sealed and numbered letters. Each one contained a different announcement depending on the outcome of the flight, whether it was successful, resulted in a fatal accident, or an emergency landing in enemy territory. The corresponding letter was only to be opened and published following a telephone call with specific instructions. After the mission was a success, the letters with the negative outcomes were then collected from the organizations.[7]
Jähn's space flight was celebrated and covered extensively by GDR media outlets, since one of the smaller German states was home to the first German in space. On Sunday, 27 August 1978,Neues Deutschland published a special edition newspaper with the headline"The First German in Space - A Citizen of the GDR". Specifically using the word "German" in reference to a citizen of Germany was not usually used in the GDR media.[12] TheAktuelle Kamera also published numerous special programs about the mission.[13]
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Jähn was awarded theHero of the GDR and theHero of the Soviet Union medals in April 1981, and abust of the cosmonaut was unveiled in theHain der Kosmonauten (trans. Hall of Cosmonauts) in front of theArchenhold Observatory inEast Berlin. It was removed in 1990, though was later replaced with a new version in the Saxony State Statistical Office on 22 February 2008.[14] Some schools, recreational centers, street names, and the cargo shipNeptun 421 were named in honor of Jähn throughout his lifetime. Theobservatory in Rodewisch, Germany, whereSputnik 1 was first observed from Earth, was also renamed after Jähn in 1979.
An exhibition dedicated to space flight and aeronautics was constructed in the former train station of his home town Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz. This exhibit received multiple additions between 1991 and 1992, and the name was formally changed toThe German Space Exhibition. Since 2007, the expanded sections have been housed in a newer building not far from the original location. Furthermore, a 4.5m (~14.8 ft.) memorial was erected in the same town to commemorate the first German cosmonaut in space.[15]
In the 2003 German filmGood Bye, Lenin!, Jähn is the boyhood hero of the film's protagonist, Alex Kerner. As part of an effort to prevent his mother from learning that the Berlin Wall came down while she was in a coma and that East Germany no longer exists as a separate nation, Kerner locates a taxi driver (played by Swiss actorStefan Walz), who resembles the cosmonaut, to appear in a fake newscast as the successor of Communist Party SecretaryErich Honecker. "Comrade Jähn" gives a speech proclaiming that he will open the East German borders to welcome West German refugees.[16][17]
The German public broadcasterMitteldeutscher Rundfunk organized a themed event for his 80th birthday. It aired as part of a special television program"Sigmund Jähn and the Heroes of the Stars" on the nights of 12 and 13 February 2017.
In an interview withDer Spiegel 30 years after his space flight, Jähn commented: "But the celebratory reports weren't music to my ears; I didn't want to be made into a folk hero. (. . .) I found the spotlight more strenuous than traveling in space."[18]
Die Zeit stated in 2018: "To this day, many West Germans do not know the first German in space. (. . .) Conversely, all former GDR citizens know who Sigmund Jähn is."[1]
Jähn was promoted tocolonel in 1978 following the success of the Soyuz 31 space flight and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Head of the Center for Cosmic Training within theKommando LSK/LV.[19] He remained deputy head of the training center until 1990.
In 1983, Jähn received hisdoctorate of science inremote sensing of the Earth at theZentralinstitut für Physik der Erde inPotsdam. He studied under the leadership of Karl-Heinz Marek, the department head for remote sensing at that time. Jähn's doctoralthesis, among other topics, was based on the scientific preparations and evaluations of various kinds of flight missions.
Jähn became one of the founding members of theAssociation of Space Explorers in 1985.
On 1 March 1986, Jähn was promoted to major general. Following the dissolution of the GDR on 2 October 1990,[20] he was relieved from duty alongside the last remaining command staff of the NVA, likeMajor GeneralLothar Engelhardt andAdmiralTheodor Hoffmann.
Jähn became a freelance consultant for theGerman Aerospace Center until 1993.[21] He then worked for theEuropean Space Agency, orESA following their ongoing projects with the Russian space agencyRoscosmos inZvyozdny Gorodok. He obtained this position with the support of hisWest German colleagueUlf Merbold and remained there for the following 15 years. The two had met in 1984 during a conference held inSalzburg.[22]
He retired in 2002. In 2011, on the 50th anniversary of the first human space flight byYuri Gagarin, he explained toDer Spiegel that taking theDas Sandmännchen toy on his flight was not a personal choice, but rather he took the figurine in order to film material for the show.
Jähn lived inStrausberg with his wife, Erika Hänsel, and two daughters, Marina and Grit.[2] He and his wife lived there until his passing on 21 September 2019, and was buried in theSt. Mary's Protestant Cemetery in Strausberg.[23][24][25]
When Jähn returned from his space flight, he was greeted by his family with a picture of his grandson. This was ultimately concealed by GDR news stations because his role as a grandfather wouldn't have conformed to the desired image the space agency wanted to promote.[citation needed]
Media related toSigmund Jähn at Wikimedia Commons
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