Abdul Ahad Momand, the first and only Afghan to travel to space, has died at the age of 67 after being diagnosed with cancer. In 1988, Momand — then a 29-year-old air force pilot — spent nine days aboard the Soviet space station Mir alongside two Russian cosmonauts, representing Afghanistan at a time when its government was allied with the USSR. His mission was notable for several firsts: he brought a Quran into orbit at the request of the Afghan government, read from it in a broadcast received on Earth, and made Pashto the fourth language ever spoken in space, after Russian, English, and French. His return to Earth was nearly catastrophic — a technical malfunction forced him and a crewmate to spend an extra day confined in their capsule without food, water, or sanitation and with dwindling oxygen, though they landed safely. Celebrated as a hero at home, Momand used a live transmission from space to appeal for peace during Afghanistan's ongoing civil war, but the conflict only worsened; he fled to Germany in 1992, where he lived until his death last month.