First South East Asian astronaut, not Malaysia. What's
more, he went up as an astronaut and not a spaceflight
participant.
Pham Tuân, Hero of the Soviet Union (born February 14, 1947) was
the first Vietnamese cosmonaut and by extension, he was also the
first person from a third world country, and the first Asian
(excluding Russia) in space.
Quoc Tuan, Thai Binh province in northern Vietnam. He joined the
VPAF, or Vietnam People's Air Force in 1965 to be later
commissioned as a combat officer, fighting in the Vietnam War
against US fighter jets from then onwards until 1975.
On the night of December 27, 1972, he is claimed to have shot down
a United States B-52 bomber over Hanoi while flying a MiG-21,
becoming the first and only pilot ever to do so. The USAF does not
acknowledge the claim, reporting that all B-52s lost during the
Vietnam War were shot down by Surface to Air Missiles (SAMs). For
his military exploits, Pham Tuan received a number of high State
distinctions including the Ho Chi Minh Order. He was also given the
Order of Lenin and the rare honour of being one of the few
foreigners to be awarded the title "Hero of the Soviet
Union".
He eventually rose to the rank of Major General in the VPAF before
eventually training to be a research engineer with the budding
USSR-Vietnamese Space program.
He was selected as part of the sixth international crew for the
Intercosmos programme on April 1, 1979. His backup cosmonaut was to
be Bùi Thanh Liêm.
Pham, along with Soviet cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko, was launched
from Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 23, 1980, on board Soyuz 37. In
the traditional Vietnamese lunar calendar, this was the 12th day of
the 6th month, Year of the Monkey [Canh Than]. They were to service
the Salyut 6 station.
During his time in orbit, Pham performed experiments on the melting
of mineral samples in microgravity. He also carried out plant
experiments on azolla. Pham Tuan also photographed Vietnam from
orbit for mapping purposes.
Pham was in space for 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes. He completed
142 orbits, and was recovered on July 31, 1980.
He is married and has two children (a daughter born 1976 and a son
born 198?). He is now a Lieutenant General, Head of the General
Department of Defence Industry of the Ministry of Defence, and a
member of the Vietnam National Assembly.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pham_Tuan
