{"id":8560,"date":"2026-06-22T02:20:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/?p=8560"},"modified":"2026-06-22T02:20:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T02:20:28","slug":"abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/","title":{"rendered":"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The pioneering Afghan who carried the Quran and the Pashto language into space<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Abdul Ahad Momand<\/strong>, Afghanistan\u2019s first astronaut, has died in Germany at the age of 67.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a family member, Momand had been suffering from cancer and passed away after a period of illness. He had been living with his family in Stuttgart, Germany, since 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Momand is widely recognized as one of Afghanistan\u2019s most significant scientific figures. In 1988, he became the first Afghan astronaut to travel into space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his historic mission, he took a copy of the Quran with him and recited verses while aboard the space station. He also spoke with his mother in Pashto from space, making Pashto one of the languages spoken beyond Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Born in 1959 in Ghazni Province, Momand completed his early education in Afghanistan before pursuing aviation and aerospace studies in the former Soviet Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He launched his space mission on August 29, 1988, and returned to Earth on September 7, 1988. The mission was originally scheduled for eight days but was extended to nine days due to technical challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After leaving Afghanistan in 1992, he settled in Germany, where he continued to work in scientific and technical fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His passing marks the loss of a pioneering figure in Afghanistan\u2019s scientific and aerospace history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The pioneering Afghan who carried the Quran and the Pashto language into space Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s first astronaut, has died in Germany at the age of 67. According to a family member, Momand had been suffering from cancer and passed away after a period of illness. He had been living with his family in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afghanistan"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67 - The Afghanistan Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67 - The Afghanistan Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The pioneering Afghan who carried the Quran and the Pashto language into space Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s first astronaut, has died in Germany at the age of 67. According to a family member, Momand had been suffering from cancer and passed away after a period of illness. He had been living with his family in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Afghanistan Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-22T02:20:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-22T02:20:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9786.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"449\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Afghanistan Post\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Afghanistan Post\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"The Afghanistan Post\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3cefb8d0e466f64acab0377c92655886\"},\"headline\":\"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T02:20:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-22T02:20:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":219,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/IMG_9786.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Afghanistan\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/\",\"name\":\"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67 - The Afghanistan Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/IMG_9786.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-22T02:20:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-22T02:20:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3cefb8d0e466f64acab0377c92655886\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/IMG_9786.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/IMG_9786.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":449},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Afghanistan Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3cefb8d0e466f64acab0377c92655886\",\"name\":\"The Afghanistan Post\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/460db9aac668f67fe98333a1daabbd75694d88a7b9ffe2186c9951cbab57ace1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/460db9aac668f67fe98333a1daabbd75694d88a7b9ffe2186c9951cbab57ace1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/460db9aac668f67fe98333a1daabbd75694d88a7b9ffe2186c9951cbab57ace1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"The Afghanistan Post\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theafghanistanpost.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/stanik-llc\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67 - The Afghanistan Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67 - The Afghanistan Post","og_description":"The pioneering Afghan who carried the Quran and the Pashto language into space Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s first astronaut, has died in Germany at the age of 67. According to a family member, Momand had been suffering from cancer and passed away after a period of illness. He had been living with his family in","og_url":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/","og_site_name":"The Afghanistan Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-22T02:20:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-22T02:20:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":449,"url":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9786.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"The Afghanistan Post","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Afghanistan Post","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/"},"author":{"name":"The Afghanistan Post","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/3cefb8d0e466f64acab0377c92655886"},"headline":"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67","datePublished":"2026-06-22T02:20:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-22T02:20:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/"},"wordCount":219,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9786.webp","articleSection":["Afghanistan"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/","url":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/","name":"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67 - The Afghanistan Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9786.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-22T02:20:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-22T02:20:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/3cefb8d0e466f64acab0377c92655886"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9786.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_9786.webp","width":800,"height":449},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/abdul-ahad-momand-afghanistans-first-astronaut-dies-at-67\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan\u2019s First Astronaut, Dies at 67"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/","name":"The Afghanistan Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/3cefb8d0e466f64acab0377c92655886","name":"The Afghanistan Post","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/460db9aac668f67fe98333a1daabbd75694d88a7b9ffe2186c9951cbab57ace1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/460db9aac668f67fe98333a1daabbd75694d88a7b9ffe2186c9951cbab57ace1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/460db9aac668f67fe98333a1daabbd75694d88a7b9ffe2186c9951cbab57ace1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"The Afghanistan Post"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english"],"url":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/author\/stanik-llc\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8560"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8562,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8560\/revisions\/8562"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theafghanistanpost.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}