All Astronauts
ROOKIEIn Memoriam—
ROOKIEIn Memoriam—Other·🇸🇾 Syria·Born 1951
Muhammed Faris
First Syrian and second Arab in space.
191h
Hours in Space
1
Missions
0
EVAs
—
EVA Time
We are now flying over our lovely country, Syria.
I brought with me a vial carrying soil from Damascus.
What they aspire to
He hoped to inspire Syrians and the broader Arab world to pursue science despite the hardships of war and exile.
Biography
First Syrian and second Arab in space. Flew to Mir on the Intercosmos program. Later became a refugee during the Syrian civil war.
Before NASAColonel and navigator in the Syrian Air Force before joining the Interkosmos program.
Notable Missions
Soyuz TM-3 / Mir (Intercosmos)
Beyond the Mission
Causes They Champion
Syrian opposition to the Assad regimeRefugee advocacy
Languages
ArabicRussian
Awards & Honors
- Hero of the Soviet Union
- Order of Lenin
- Order of the Syrian Arab Republic
Fun fact
After defecting in 2012, Syria's first and only cosmonaut spent his final years as a refugee in Gaziantep, Turkey, where he died in 2024.
Item flown to space
A vial of soil from Damascus.
More Astronauts
Other space travelers from Other
