Hungary Soyus 36-The Russian Hungarian Joint Space Flight

[Gordon Craig]

Soyus-36 - The joint Russian Hungarian space flight

Within the framework of Intercosmos co-operation it was possible for member countries (socialist countries) to send a cosmonaut into space. The task of selecting the Hungarian cosmonauts began in May of 1977. The selection was made from the pilots at the aviation Medicine Research Centre at Kecskem?t. Eventually, after a series of tests, a short list of four was achieved. This list was eventually reduced to two names: Bertelan (Bertsi) Farkas and Bela Magyari. They were sent to the Soviet Union to prepare with their Soviet colleagues at the Gagarin Space Centre. Both men completed all of the training and it was only a few hours before the launch that the final decision was made as to who would be the primary and who the member of the backup crew. Bertelan Farkas was chosen as the primary crew member and the Russian crew member would be Valeri Nikolayevich Kubasov. Kubasov was the Commander and Farkas the Research Cosmonaut. Vladimir Alexandrovich Dzhanibekov was the commander for the backup crew while B?la Magjari was the Research Cosmonaut. The call sign for the primary crew was ?ORION?.

The original launch date for the ninth expedition to Salyut 6 was to have been June 1979 on Soyuz 33. It was postponed after the Soyuz 33 main engine failed. Kubasov and Farkas eventually blasted off from launch pad 31 of the Baikenur space centre aboard Soyuz 36 on July 31, 1980. The duration of the flight was 7 days 20 hours and 45 minutes. They docked with the Salyut Space Station and relieved the crew of Gorbatko and Pham (North Vietnam) who returned to earth. The Hungarian mission was the fifth in the Intercosmos programme.

During the eight days they were aboard Solyut 6 they carried out twelve Hungarian prepared scientific research experiments in material processing, earth observation, and life sciences. The best known research experiment was on interferon. Farkas had special Hungarian prepared foods with Hungarian tastes in a special dried tube form. Farkas and Kubasov returned to earth on June the 3rd, landing 140 Kms southeast of Dzeskasgan.

As a side note, if one had to travel into space with another person Valeri Kubasov seems to be the ideal choice. By all accounts he was a lucky man who escaped death twice in the Soviet space program. He was part of the crew that was originally intended to fly Soyuz 2, which was found to have the same faulty parachute sensor that resulted in the death of Vladimir Komarov on Soyuz 1. Soyuz 2 was eventually launched without a crew. Slated for a subsequent mission on Soyuz 11 he was grounded for medical reasons. The back-up crew on that mission was killed when the capsule was accidentally depressurized by a faulty valve. Kubasov was also a member of the Soyuz 6 and 19 crews. Before he retired in 1993 he worked in the development of the MIR space station.

Farkas was a hero after his space flight. In 1986 he graduated from the Faculty of Transport Engineering of the Technical University of Budapest. From 1986 he worked within the research group of the Intercosmos Council of Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In 1995 he was promoted to Brigadier General as the Deputy Flight Observer of the Hungarian Army. In 1996 and 1997 he served as Military Attache to the United States. He retired in 1997.

There are two badges, that I am aware of, that Hungary produced to commemorate the flight of Soyuz 36. The first one I will post a picture of is a small 20mm blue badge bearing the legend K?Z?S ?RREP?LES-1979 (JOINT SPACE FLIGHT-1979). The badge also shows part of the earth as viewed from space with the Russian and Hungarian flags in the centre. Above the earth is the Salyut 6. The inscription on the badge must have caused some discomfort for the Hungarian government, considering the actual launch date of Soyuz 36, and I do not know if they were actually handed out but they certainly are available now although not in large numbers.

The second badge is a oval one 60mm in width, at its widest point, and has two screws on the back. The background of the badge is medium blue with a light blue globe in the centre representing the earth. A red rocket is shown circling the earth before heading off into space. The Hungarian State crest is pictured at the bottom of the globe. The caption at the bottom of the badge reads; A MAGYAR N?PK?ZT?RSASAG ?RHAJ?SA (THE HUNGARIAN PEOPLE?S REPUBLIC COSMONAUT). It was issued only to those who could actually participated in the Intercosmos joint flight of Soyuz36/Salyut-6; Bertelan Farkas and his back-up cosmonaut Bela Magyari. The badges were not circulated or sold to the general public. The badge pictured is in a private collection and negotiations to move it from its present location into my collection have proven unsuccessful.

Following the badges is a picture taken somewhere in Budapest after the return of the cosmonauts. Bertalan Farkas is in the centre wearing the oval badge pictured below over the right breast pocket of his uniform. On the right breast pocket of his uniform he wears the Hungarian Parachutists ?Free Fall Badge?. The highest level of parachute qualification in the Hungarian armed forces at that time. I can not tell from the photo what award is worn above the space flight badge. On his left side, above the ribbon bar, are the Hero of the Hungarian Peoples Republic and beside it the Hero of the Soviet Union. Pinned to his left lapel, on a Soviet style ribbon, is an award I do not recognize. Bela Magyari is following him and wears the Flag Order of the People?s Republic of Hungary on the left upper pocket of his uniform. Unfortunately, the photograph is not clear enough for us to be able to identify the class of the award. Kubasov is in civilian clothes to Farkas?s right. Kubasov is also wearing the Hero of the Hungarian People?s Republic on the lapel of his sport coat.

The badges;

Edited January 26, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Ulsterman]

Very cool Gordon. Is he in Hungary now or in the USA?

[Gordon Craig]

The picture of the Cosmonauts visit to Budapest.

Edited January 26, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

Ulsterman,

Farcas is in Hungary. As far as I know he is the co-owner of Atlant-Hungary Airline Company.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Ulsterman]

Cool-any chance of an interview? I bet his medals array would be spectacular.

[hunyadi]

And even to this day conspircay theorists claim that they never went into space, but that the whole thing was staged at a TV studio...will see about geting photos of the capsule that now resides in the National Transportation Museum.

[Gordon Craig]

Gents,

Time to add some more photos from Soyuz 36. First will be Farkas in his space suit. Next in line will be the back-up crew in their suits. Finally, Farkas wieghtless in space.

Regards,

Gordon

[Richard S]

Here are some pictures of Farkas Bertalan and Magyari B?la. Both make the training for the sojus 36 mission.

Farkas in uniform

[Richard S]

Magyari in uniform

[Richard S]

Farkas in space suit

[Richard S]

Magyari in space suit

[Richard S]

The space training camp "Csillagv?ros" (Star-City)

[hunyadi]

What badge is that - both seem to have one and it seems that it has been edited out - is that a Verado Badge for the Red Cross???

[Gordon Craig]

Richard S,

Thanks for adding the colour photos. Very nice closeups of the Hungarian badges on the space suits. I have to correct my earlier statement that Bertalan was wearing the Free Fall badge in an earlier picture that I posted. From these pictures it is easy to see he was wearing the Pilots Badge. I should have realized that before.

Charles,

Good question about the badge. It is probably a KISZ badge, like one of the suspension ones we saw at the show on Saturday, and someone has wiped out the badge because of the communist insignia. According to the 75 uniform regulations they were allowed to wear some KISZ badges/awards but there is no mention of permission to wear Red Cross awards. We can go through that tomorrow when I bring over that section of the 75 regs.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

Gents,

Here are three stamps that were issued by the Soviet Union in 1990 in honour of the joint Soviet Hungarian space flight. It probably won't show up in these pictures but under a magnifying class the Cosmonauts are readily identifiable.

Regards,

Gordon

[decker]

Interesting topic!

I met Farkas Bertalan once when I was spending my military service at the HKP (National Draft Agency). He was - as I remember - in the rank of a (retired) lt.col. then.

[Gordon Craig]

When I started this thread it was because of the Hungarian commemorative badge for the launch of Soyus 36. It intrigued me because it was dated 1979, the original target launch date, and I wondered if Hungary had ever produced one for 1980 as well. I can now answer that question as I recent bought one at a flea market. The badge is identical except for the date.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

I have also picked up a couple of more badges commemorating this event. The one on the left is interesting as it is made of glass.

Edited April 1, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

And a stick pin commemorating the Intercosmos series of flights as well as Soyus 36. Again, dated 1979.

Edited April 1, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

Something else to add today. At the May Budapest Militaria Show I picked up a cased set of commemorative badges for the Soyus 36 flight. The case is wooden with a varnished finish on the top and a felt coveered exterior base. Since the case contains the one dated badge in this series and this badge is dated 1980 we can date this set to 1980. You will note from the pictures that the plush lined interior has recesses to fit each badge. I feel the set is incomplete as the badge in the lower left corner, as seen by the viewer, is duplicated by another badge in a recess that it fits exactly while the badge in this location is too small for the recessed area it was sitting in when I bought the set. If anyone has a picture of the badge that would fit in this recess I would appreciat it if they would post it. In addition, the case contains two rectangular badges, upper right side, which do not have recessed areas, and were probably added at some time after the set was produced. The purpose of producing this cased set is unknown to me. The deal for the case also included a commemorative 100 Forint coin, in a sealed plastic holder, for the Soyuz 36 space flight.

Regards,

Gordon

[Gordon Craig]

The interior of the case. The small statue in the upper left hand corner depicts the "Liberation Monument" in the Citadel in Budapest. The local inhabitants of Budapest refer to the statue as "The Bottle Opener" and you can actually buy this statue in souvenire shops made as a bottle opener.

Edited May 5, 2007 by Gordon Craig

[Gordon Craig]

A close up of the badges in the case.

[Gordon Craig]

One side of the comemorative coin.

[Gordon Craig]

The other side of the comemorative coin.

[hunyadi]

That is a great set!