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Space flight

The crew and back-up team for Ahad Momand's mission. Momand is third from the left.

The only Afghan to ever fly in space almost didn’t make it back to Earth

Science

Ahad Momand is the first — and only — Afghan to have gone into space. He was a national hero after his flight in 1988, but it nearly ended in tragedy after a computer malfunction stranded him in orbit without food or water.

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