- Bui Thanh Liem
Bùi Thanh Liêm (
June 30 ,1949 -September 26 ,1981 ) was a Vietnamese astronaut.Born in
Hanoi ,Vietnam , he was a pilot for the North Vietnamese military who rose to the rank of Captain and flew many combat missions during theVietnam War . In 1978, Liêm graduated from Gagarin Military Air Academy atMonino ,Moscow Oblast ,Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ,Soviet Union .Liêm was selected as backup of
Phạm Tuân who was the first Vietnamese and the first Asian in space on theSoyuz 37 mission.In 1981, he was killed in a
MIG-21 aeroplane crash.External links
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/international/english/liem_bui.htm Spacefacts biography of Liem Bui]
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