Franz Viehböck

• I Austromir Soyuz TM -12 TM-13/Sojus (1991 )

Franz Artur Viehböck ( born August 24, 1960 in Vienna) is an Austrian electrical engineer and former Austrian astronaut. He was the first and so far the only Austrian in the universe, considered by Austrian media nicknamed " Austronaut ".

Life

He graduated in 1978 at the Federal High School / Bundesrealgymnasium Keimgasse in Mödling.

Together with the doctor Clemens Lothaller he was 91 selected for the Soviet- Austrian space project Austromir. After the joint two-year training, the Soviet space agency decided for him, so Viehböck launched on October 2, 1991 together with Russian cosmonaut Alexander Volkov and the first Kazakh cosmonaut Toqtar Äubäkirow with Soyuz TM -13 from Baikonur Cosmodrome.

During his stay in the Mir space station, he led, together with the cosmonauts Anatoly and Sergei Artsebarsky Krikaljow by 15 scientific experiments in the fields of space medicine, physics and space technology. Viehböck returned after seven days and 22 hours returns with Soyuz TM -12 and ended on 10 October in Kazakhstan.

On behalf of the Austrian Government Viehböck held during the next two years, lectures and information sessions on the mission. He was then working for Rockwell International in the U.S., and appointed after the takeover Rockwell by Boeing as Director for International Business Development in Vienna. Later, he was technology officer of Lower Austria.

Since 2004 he has worked at the village Bern AG in Bern village in a leading position. Viehböck is married, his daughter came during his stay in space to the world, he also has three sons.

Awards

• Grand Gold Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria, presented by the Austrian Federal President Kurt Waldheim (1991 )

Trivia

In Space novel Everything works never (2005) by the Austrian author Martin Amanshauser playing in 2020, is a character named Viehböck, former astronaut and flight Austrian legend, a protagonist. The fictional character Viehböck is the time of action already 60 years old and receives due to their experience with Soviet technology another opportunity to fly into space.