In 1987, Faris, a pilot in the Syrian Air Force, spent eight days in space with the Soviet Union’s Interkosmos spaceflight program.
Faris flew with a Soviet crew to Mir space station becoming the first and only Syrian astronaut and second Arab to make it to space.
Upon his return to Syria, Faris was celebrated as a national hero by tens of thousands of Syrians.
Faris decided in 2012 to defect and publicly oppose the Syrian regime, putting his family and himself in life-threatening danger.
In 2020, Faris was granted Turkish citizenship, as reported by the Turkish state broadcaster TRT.
Persons:
CNN — Mohammad Faris, Armstrong, Faris, Hafez al, Assad, Bashar, “, Jazeera, Assad, Faris –, Hafez al - Assad, Prince Sultan bin Salman, Allah, “ let’s, ” Faris, Bashar al, Al Jazeera, Moscow propping
Organizations:
CNN, Syrian Air Force, Saudi, Free Syrian Army, Turkish, TRT, Star City, AP
Locations:
Turkish, Gaziantep, Soviet, Syria, ”, Aleppo, Turkey, Istanbul, Russia, Moscow, Soviet Union